I've been reading this blog for a few weeks now but off late it seems like the author is extremely bitter about being passed over for the Indian team.

Sorry, Mr. Chopra - Scoring heavily in the domestic competition doesn't necessarily mean you're good enough for international cricket.

Akash: Thanks for sharing your cricket wisdom with us. Can you expand this on how the fielding team might manipulate (within rules) to their advantage? Will umpires stop if a bowler practices a little too much to alter the shape/hardness?

Taher: Can you point one sentence where Akash showed bitterness? Grow up dude.

Chopra brings a valid point. The standard of the domestic cricket must match or exceed the international matches. These ball changing episodes dont help.

Chopra is a fine opening bat and he proved that against one of the better bowling attacks in the world, i.e the Aussies. Right at the moment, he is not included in the BCCI's contract system. BCCI selectors owe him an explanation as to why he wasn't considered - when he did extremely well in the domestic season.

mr tahers comments are in bad taste.
akash chopra fills a very important space in domestic cricket,which none of the so called big wigs of test cricket have been able to do.morever,the point that he has raised about the changing of balls every now and then to the detriment of one team against another is certainly a cause for worry and must be looked into.could be a conspiracy issue.

Dear Reader (Taher),

Why can't we appreciate the fact that Akash Chopra is just trying to highlight few facts based on his exoperiences in domestic cricket. To relate every thing to a position in the national level is extremely immature. And nowhere does Mr. Chopra express bitterness about not being part of the main setup here. So why not try to understand and keep it simple. Cheers.

I think there is a device available now which can make a ball certain over's old by pressing a button. This atleast takes care of the umpire's errors in rubbing the ball.

A funny thing happened Mr Chopra. Based on your article, I went back to look at the Ranji Trophy archives.

Season 2002/03 - Delhi played Mumbai and Bengal. But no Tendulkar or Ganguly in the opposition

Season 2003/04 - - Delhi played Mumbai. But no Tendulkar in the opposition.

Season 2004/05 - - Delhi played Mumbai and Bengal. But no Tendulkar or Ganguly in the opposition

Season 2005/06 - - Delhi played Mumbai and Bengal. But no Tendulkar or Ganguly in the opposition

You made your debut in Season 96/97.

"I remember playing a Ranji Trophy game almost a decade ago where the opposition's captain was at the helm of Indian cricket." - What game was this exactly?

Cheers,

Akash, What about the state of the grounds where the matches are held? Are they test class? Ok, some games are played in regular stadiums, but is the outfield & pitch up to international standard at that period. It maybe worthwhile covering our grounds with a thick cover of grass near the boundaries, as it would improve the running between wickets, instead of getting easy fours.

Those who have the doubt about Mr. Chopra, just need to see the close in catched he used to take while in Indian team. had he been there in the last serious, Harbhajan and Mishra would have got atlease two more wickets in each innings to a total of 12 wickets.

Really makes me wonder how can the same make and grade of the ball used in Test matches go out of shape so many times in a Ranji Match.Not only TN Vs Bengal but even in Mumbai Vs HP game at Ahmedabad there were stoppages because of ball change..Guess this riddle can be solved by BCCI/SG combine.

PS: Dear Akash,it seems you like to post only those comments where readers agree with you,otherwise I see no reason for not posting my comment during your last blog which talked about food in domestic matches

we have tried to supply consistently good quality balls made from imported Australian hide, using imported cores but hand stitched which are of very consistent quality and assured the BCCI regarding the quality and shape retention but there were no takers. in fact our balls were successfully used in the 1st T-20 competition domestically held by BCCI in 2007 and the balls were extremely successful but since then BCCI has never given us a chance to supply them with good quality balls. somehow quality does not speak with BCCI, I guess it is the "other aspects" that really matter. we can challenge the BCCI to do a head to head test with SG, Kookaburra or any other brand and if we come second we will eat our words....guess thats all we can say at the moment.

Dear Akash, I think the same problem of favouring the State side with big names in the BCCI goes on even in selecting the umpires. The ongoing Ranji Quarter-final is a case in point where the cricketers were quoted as saying "With the blessings of the God (read the name of the umpire) nobody can beat" even after getting first innings lead on a placid batting track in a 4-day match. Surely enough the umpire did not dissappoint and a result is due in an hour in favour of his team after his keeping one end up for the side that is supposed to win. It helps when such umpires are international panel. I think like neutral pitches, neutral make of balls and neutral umpires are required.

Akash, I find your blogs so interesting.Other than being a gifted cricketer you are also gifted with pen. And you write about aspects one hardly finds anywhere else.
Taher : are you reading Akashes blog or some thing else. I am yet to see any sign of bitterness. On the contrary these are the most intreseting contemporary writing on India cricket by any cricketor, or cricket writer for that matter.

@ Homer:

Check again. Maybe Delhi was playing Hyderabad and the captain was Azharuddin.

Dear Akash,
I do sympathise with you.There are a lot of players who play first class cricket but only 15 at one time can represent the nation.
What hurts the people who play first class cricket a lot in India is that there is no yard stick to measure what qualifies a person for the national team selection.
There are many times in our checkered history of BCCI where a president of the board would select from his state 3-4 players sometimes even 7 or 8 to the national team much to the dissapointment to the genuine talent and hard working first class cricketers.Of the present lot playing first class cricket there are many who deserve a place in the national team to name a few TM Srivastava of UP, Mohammed Kaif, Pujara , Manoj tiwari,Partiv Patel,Robin Uttappa, Wassim Jaffer.Even You Akash had a decent First class season with 486 runs.
So what is the way out.Make first class cricket compulsory for all players & the national team should be selected from the top 5 batsmen & bowlers.

Shame on Taher for his mean-spirited comments. Akash, you are doing a great job with your columns and please continue writing them. I enjoy your keen cricketing insight.

I do agree with Akash about the frequent ball changing episodes in the Ranji Trophy (I saw the same in the last week's TN v/s Bengal match....
Definitely there is a huge difference in the SG Test balls used for Ranji Trophy match while in a Test match....Guys the real issue is the ball quality and not about the selection issue (who's in n who's not)......the umpires must be the best judge of the balls and should report the same to the concerned authorities.....wot say

suer thanks

I did note one thing during the Bengal vs TN match. The ball hit the front roller of "I presume a sponger or a heavy roller", secondly the fours were not protected by sponsorship boards etc. Dear Akash, can you tell us or me - technically why this happens? My reasoning is the power generated by the cricketers is the same. There is no big difference. Since the ball bounces on empty stands, no boards etc. it is bound to go out of shape.
Or, does the BCCI have a baksheesh contract with the manufacturer to supply "not so perfect balls"
Good article keep it up

Oi Dumbass, (Homer) a decade is 10 years, + Aakash didn't mention tendulkar nor ganguly.
Cheers ;)

Dear readers,
I really appreciate your feedback and pls keep 'em coming.
Dear Rajit, it's absolutely fine to disagree with me. But the comments are uploaded by the moderator at Cricinfo. Still pls accept my apologies for not posting ur comment.
Dear Rajagopalan, most of the ranji games are played at test centres but unfortunately the problem still persists.
Homer, you need go back a few more years, mate.
Kaushik, as far as I know the umpires are neutral in all first class games.
Narayanan, Naresh and Ravi...thank you guys!!!
Last but not the least...Dear Taher...this blog is not about my personal greviences but an attempt to give you an honest account of how things are at domestic circuit.
Thanks once again.
Keep writing in.
Cheers.

Not that it is going to help, Akash Chopra brings an interesting issue in the Indian domestic cricket to the fore-front. Considering that anyone without a semblance of real cricket experience blogs these days, more and more domestic cricketers should be encouraged to blog about the Indian domestic cricket and how they go about their business. Quality of balls of the same make and that same lot differs sometimes, and I can tell that from my experience of running the Northern California Cricket Association league, and you just get on with it unless someone is deliberately retorted to tampering the cherry. But as far as external pressures, to win a cricket match, is not something that will go away soon.
It would help if Akash Chopra posts his email address, so that we can communicate with him over email.

Akash is rightly said even in test matches in India the balls are often changed. The quality of the balls to be improved.There is no point in replacing hard balls after 20 odd overs. As a opener Akash is right the new hard ball replaced and fast bowler coming back to attack negates the hard work done by he openers. he is even now better option opening with Viru in south Africa and Australia. He is the best shotleg feilder in last 25 years.

I think the point raised by Mr. Akash Chopra is a valid one. The bigger names in the game try to get all the advantage for their team. That is unfortunate. I think umpire's selected should not only be of high competence, but also great intigrity. Umpire's role is extremely important. He is a Judge, and should not see any thing other than evidence, to give a decision.

Hi Akash,
Thanks for sharing your views on state of Indian domestic session. BCCI should look into this matter, as these matters seems small, but it hurts a lot to players who are on receiving end.
I know this article is not about you, but I must say BCCI needs to explain why Akash Chopra not considered for a Grade D contract. If Ashok Dhinda can be considered, why not Akash Chopra?

I strongly disagree with Mr Taher comments which show complete immaturity. Maybe he is a fan of a certain Mumbai opening batsman who scored/scores heavily in domestic cricket and when given an extended streak as India's opener, posts a century after ages and keeps his place. Akash- dont be dissappointed. " best shortleg fielder in 25 years", " reason for wins in Australia ", i'd just like to say, Nice guys finish last.

I think Dananjay's comments are valid. The ball striking the solid cement stands and walls (not to mention the rollers etc) is probably the reason for frequent ball changes required. I love Mr Chopra's blogs. I hate all the cynical people criticizing whilst hiding behind the psudonyms.

It is disappointing that domestic cricket in India is not matching international standards at all.We can see better quality grounds and other facilities for domestic matches in Australia,S.A and England.Doesn't BCCI have the money to even buy better quality balls or to maintain grounds better.It sounds ridiculous.

Could it be Azharuddin and Hyderabad - the captain Akash is alluding to. Or maybe Sourav Ganguly. Because Sourav played a big part in ejecting Akash out of the Indian side. maybe he was carrying a grouse just like he did with Murali Kartik for showing him the finger in ranji match vs Bengal.
Saurav was a great captain for India but I guess he was also a petty man - luckily, he had the sense to pick the players to be petty with and chose Akash and Kartik who couldnt have made a big difference for India so it was okay. But I guess Dada fans will now pounce upon me for just saying that Dada wasnt a saint because I have acknowledged he is a great captain still Dada fans will be happy only if I call him the new Mahatama Gandhi

Dear Akash: Although from your blog, it sounds like fielders do try and bend the rules for to acheive desired results, your example of a famous personality causing an undesirable ball change seems like a case of "one-sided story". You yourself are a well-respected verteran in the domestic circuit and have also been an international personality. Add to it the games when both Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag turn up for Delhi, I am sure Delhi must also have tried to do similar things. I do play minor league cricket in USA myself, and although I am no one to extrapolate my experience here, from what I have learnt all teams do try to make the "conditions" suit themselves a little bit more. Plus if you dig deeper to analyze this, with the kind of wickets we have seen (at least until last year) when people have score triple centuries regularly, you will agree that it's a batsman's game. I am sure a little bit of unintentional "biased" help for the bowlers won't be excessively harmful

I just don understand why the domestic cricket in India is up to the standards of Test level.

If that improves then surely our national team will go sky high.

Cheers!!!!!

Aakash,
I like all your blogs and it gives us first hand knowledge about our domestic cricket. But let me tell you - what would you do if you are the helm of Indian cricket. The motto these days is win at any cost even if it includes a little bit of bending the rules - do you walk if you nick one? Even if you are one of the exception in the sense that you are really really honest(which I donot believe anybody would be in a competetive environment) you cannot expect everybody else to be like that. I donot need to tell you that life is tough and not always fair - everybody would like to win at all costs. I guess that you are referring to Delhi vs Bengal super league match in 97-98 season.

I completely agree with Dhanjay. I was watching the quarterfinal match between TN and Bengal. There were no advertisement hordings kept in the boundary and the balls were repeatedly hitting the rollers, the concrete walls and the barriers. It was no wonder that the balls were changed often. I don't understand why the association can't keep atleast plain hoardings (since they were not able to find any advertisements) at the bounday. Mr. Chopra has raised a valid point and hope the authorities read this.

Akash,

This is nothing new about the quality of cricket balls. Been happening since first class started in India. As Ganesh mentioned in earlier post, this has been many a problem. We in NCCA use Kookaburra in A div and the rest use Grays for B-D divs. We tried many cricket balls in our conditions and found these two types of balls are best suited for our needs. Kooks are better quality and off course price is high than grays cricket balls. Grays does hold their shape and are not as good for swing as Kooks.
Most of our cricket in NCCA is played on Hard-wicket with astro turf. To get good bounce and all are good batting strips. We have Asrto on cement, hard dirt/clay and one turf wicket.
From my friends who do cricket business, SG test logo is sold to businesses that pay a fee. They all in turn get cricket ball manufactured by independents and use the SG logo. The seconds are labeled as Tournament. Anyway, these balls are hard; do break bats and damage hands. Need to be very careful what you use. Maybe that is the reason in one recent Quarterfinal Ranji match many catches was floored. SG test cricket ball used are different types, the ones used in Tests and Ranji are of better quality than the ones sold in market. I read somewhere BCCI were supposed to use Kooks for Tests and Ranjis. Wonder what happened? Maybe you can shed some light.

Dhananjay was spot on. BCCI selects the players based on their first class performance but the level of play cannot be compared to that of a Test match. Just minus the spectators and give them everything they want. Lets have 5 day matches instead of these curtailed matches.
The fixtures of the matches should be announced in the media to draw the spectators interest. Before getting into cricinfo I really didnt have any idea about the fixtures of the first-class matches. Its a big process but it will make Indian cricket a leap forward.

Cheers!!!!!

Hey Akash. Good post. I play in the US and our league has also been using the SG Test ball since 1999. I personally, and almost all the people in the our league, love the SG Test ball. It's probably the best ball for it's price. Though recently, last couple of years mainly, we've also noticed that the balls have been of substandard. I've noticed that there is a difference in the darkness of the ball, darker ball = not genuine SG Test.

Also from what i understand, SG Test are hand made, whereas Kooks and others are made by machines. This could be another reason that the SG Test balls aren't so consistent.

Nonetheless SG has been making these balls for years and they should figure out a way to have way better quality control and consistency.

Good post Akash.

Dear Aakash

I really like reading your articles. They are full of usefull insights. Could you please write an article about the Indian pitches, to me they look very substandard specially in Test cricket. How hard is it to make a good wicket?? What do you consider as a good wicket? What are the pitches like in the domestic circut?

I personally believe that a wicket with bounce makes cricket intresting. I love watching test cricket when its played in South Africa or Australia. The Indian wickets are so bad that I have seen the first ball of a test being collected by the keeper on the third bounce!! shocking if you ask me

Dear Aakash

I really like reading your articles. They are full of usefull insights. Could you please write an article about the Indian pitches, to me they look very substandard specially in Test cricket. How hard is it to make a good wicket?? What do you consider as a good wicket? What are the pitches like in the domestic circut?

I personally believe that a wicket with bounce makes cricket intresting. I love watching test cricket when its played in South Africa or Australia. The Indian wickets are so bad that I have seen the first ball of a test being collected by the keeper on the third bounce!! shocking if you ask me

Just read the aricle on cricket balls,surely the best thing to do is invite the best ball makers to offer their balls up for matches during the season and the one with least complaints gets the contract for a couple of seasons,does this sound like a good idea?Happy New Year!

As pitches are mostly batsman friendly even abroad, and the boundary boards etc. are not well protected, why not allow a new ball every 50 overs if the bowling side so choses. This way the fielding side will just wait it out for borderline problems as it appears that shape issues surface mostly around the 40th over mark on average. The game would become more interesting and batsmen would be tested more and those that still do well can be considered first for national selection. It could be the first easy step towards spicing up domestic cricket. I see nothing sacred about the 75 over change rule. Eventually, we could do the same thing in Test matches and get results even on somewhat flat pitches. Why do "settled" batsmen need the luxury of a full 75 overs? Frequent challenge might improve the quality of the game and sort the men from the boys. There are many batsmen today who fill their boots flogging Bangladesh on flat pitches with the assurance of an older ball as an added advantage