CHENNAI: “Get an ethics committee in place”. “To reach the knockout stage in Ranji Trophy and consistency in performances”.
These are two of the 16 bulletins listed under “mission” on Rajasthan Cricket Association’s (RCA) website. For an association hit by administrative problems, it’s understandable to have such targets. With the RCA suspended and an ad-hoc committee overseeing work, the state team’s performance has plummeted.
The 2010-11 and 2011-12 Ranji Trophy champions didn’t win a single match last season. In the one before, they were second last in the group with one win. In the last four editions of Vijay Hazare Trophy, they have won eight of 22 matches. The only silver lining was last year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, where they finished runners-up.
With Ashok Menaria taking over as captain this season, Rajasthan expected a fresh start. But their Vijay Hazare campaign has begun with three straight losses, the latest being by eight wickets against Gujarat on Tuesday.
Menaria cites lack of match practice caused by administrative issues as a major reason. “In the last five years, we have not even come close to qualifying for the knockouts. Everyone knows the association is going through a rough patch. We don’t have a proper body to guide us or conduct matches regularly. We can’t cite that as an excuse, but one has to understand that there are factors not in our control.
“We just had eight days to prepare. Before the start of the season, we had an inter-district event where four teams competed. We had 4-5 matches. That’s all. After that we play Vijay Hazare and Ranji,” said Menaria, who was the leading scorer in this year’s Dhaka Premier League with 662 runs.
This is not the only problem. Inexperience is also hurting the team. Veteran pacer Pankaj Singh has shifted to Puducherry. Khaleel Ahmed and Deepak Chahar are on national duty. So they have to look for fresh faces.
“We are a side with an average age of 23. Barring Robin Bist and myself, the rest are youngsters who played very little during off-season. Also, in Jaipur we have tracks suitable for fast bowlers. But pitches in Chennai are more suitable for spinners. Our players are not used to these conditions and that’s why batsmen struggled in the first three matches. A win will help us get back our confidence,” said Menaria. For the 27-year-old and his team, that has to come soon.
srinidhi@newindianexpress.com
Elite Group C
Rajasthan 179/9 in 50 ovs (Chundawat 82 n.o; Patel 5/22) lost to Gujarat 180/2 (Panchal 84, Kshitij 89) in
40 ovs; Bengal 129 in 38 ovs lost to Services 130/2 in 22 ovs (Rahul Singh 53 n.o, Paliwal 58 n.o); Jharkhand 307/8 in 50 ovs (Kishan 85) bt Tamil Nadu 299 in 49.5 ovs (Indrajith 101).
South fixtures
Bengaluru: Baroda vs Karnataka
New Delhi: Andhra vs Chhattisgarh
New Delhi: Delhi vs Odisha