da bet nacional： As in life, change is the essence of cricket
da leao： Staff Reporter09-May-2001As in life, change is the essence of cricket. The game must move withthe times and this is true not only of international cricket but alsoof the domestic game. The Ranji Trophy and the Duleep Trophy, the twomost prestigious national tournaments have undergone many changes inthe 67 years and 40 years respectively since their inception.The premier inter-state national competition was initially played on aknock out basis. In 1957-58 it was changed to a league cum knock outpattern. In 1970-71, while the format remained much the same, twoteams instead of one qualified for the knock out in a bid to make thefinal rounds more interesting. For the past few years, three teamshave been allowed to qualify from each of the five zones and thematches have been played either on knock out or super league formatbefore the final.The Duleep Trophy inter-zonal championship has undergone less change.Played on knock out format for more than 30 years, it was held on aleague pattern for three years in the 90s. Thereafter it was back tothe knock out format till this season when it was held again on aleague basis.Now if a proposal by the West Zone associations is given seriousthought by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, there could bemore changes in the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy format. Theassociations for example have suggested that the Duleep Trophy shouldagain be played on a knock out basis since the league format, it isfelt is long drawn in a season that is already chock-full with variousmatches, domestic and international.For the Ranji Trophy, a more revolutionary change has been suggested,based on promotion and relegation. The plan, as envisaged, is that the15 teams which qualified for the knock out should be placed in twogroups while the 12 who did not qualify should be placed in two othergroups. After league matches between the competing teams in the fourgroups, the sides which finish last in the first two groups will berelegated while the sides which finish top of the other two groupswill earn promotion. The top four teams in each of the first twogroups will then play a knock out (quarterfinal) round to decide thewinner of the trophy.It is believed that this move has been thought of as some of thematches at the zonal level are hopelessly lop sided. There are teamsin some of the zones that have not shown the desired improvement whilesome past giants have fallen on lean days. According to the formatsuggested by the West Zone associations, matches in which there ishardly any competition will be reduced considerably and the generalstandard will be higher and the games more keenly fought, even at thezonal level.Suggestions have also been made for changes in the format for variousjunior tournaments. In the under-14 tournament for example there is aplea that the matches be reduced to two days duration as the existingthree day format is taxing on the youngsters. The suggestions will beforwarded to the BCCI who are expected to refer them to the technicalcommittee which is likely to meet in New Delhi next week.
