Steps taken to Review Indian Cricket

India's shock loss to Bangladesh and the team's subsequent ouster from the 2007 Cricket World Cup at the preliminary stage itself may turn out to be the best thing that has happened to Indian cricket in a long time. The BCCI, which was shell shocked at the team's pathetic performance in the West Indies, was finally forced into taking concrete steps to infuse some fresh life into Indian cricket.
The BCCI in its Working Committee meeting on Saturday announced a slew of steps to rejuvenate Indian cricket; and one can assume to put together a well-oiled unit in place by the time the 2011 World Cup comes along.
The board should be commended for initiating concrete steps to strengthen domestic cricket. In recent years, interest in the domestic league has waned due to a number of reasons, including the absence of national team players and the general nature of pitches laid out for these matches.
In this background, the decision to ensure that all Test/ ODI cricketers play the Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Challenger Trophy and some Ranji Trophy matches is bound to create fresh interest in these encounters, pull in more crowds, and in the process also encourage domestic cricketers to put in better performances. Playing in front of a sizable crowd would also stimulate match conditions for these players to a certain extent.
It has been a well-known fact for ages now that Team India does well at home on the flat pitches that are laid out here, but struggle when they go to countries like England, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa where the ball swings and the pitches are much faster and bouncier. To address this, the BCCI is going to ask local associations to prepare fast and lively tracks for domestic tournaments. As with the other steps announced, implementation will be the key word here.
One of the best decisions taken by the Working Committee is to scrap the present zonal representation in the senior and junior selection committees. This will ensure that regionalism does not creep in while making selections. The modalities of the working of the new selectors of course need to be worked out, but in itself this is a terrific decision taken by the BCCI.
The decision to do away with the present gradation system and approval of the Performance-based payment is another overdue decision, that I personally am glad has finally been taken. For long now, our seasoned campaigners have been assured of a hefty pay check irrespective of their performance in matches. All that changes now and players representing India in international matches and tournaments will have to earn their pay check.