Most die-hard Indian fans follow every match of IPL – the premier tournament of yesteryears has commenced today !! - do you know or remember Balu Alagannan?
The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India equivalent to the County Championship in England and the Sheffield Shield in Australia. The competition is named after Kumar Ranjitsinhji -Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, an Indian prince and Test cricketer who played for the English cricket team. Most of the teams playing in the Ranji Trophy represent states of India. However, there are teams that represent individual cities such as Mumbai or Hyderabad. The competition also includes teams that have no regional affiliations, such as Railways and Services. This competition was launched way back in 1934 with the trophy donated by the Maharaja of Patiala.
In the first edition, there were 15 teams divided into 4 zones and a knockout format was followed. The first match of the competition was held on the 4th Nov 1934 between Madras and Mysore at Chepauk.
In our School days, Ranji preliminary would be Zonal affair as Tamil Nadu would play Kerala, Andhra and find it difficult against Hyderabad and more so against Karnataka. Today at Valsad – TN chose to field and at close of play Gujarat were bowled out for 236. Sai Kishore and Chintan Gaja are the Captains.
R. B. Alaganan better known as Balu Alaganan, played just six first-class matches for Madras. He was the Captain of the Team when they beat Holkars in the finals in 1955 to win Ranji Trophy title. A well-known radio commentator, he also worked in administrative roles for the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. TN has won the title only twice. The second win came in 1988 – the 54th Season when they defeated Railways by an innings. S Vasudevan was the Captain.
The present edition of the Ranji Trophy has two pools - Elite and Plate. The Elite group has 32 teams divided into four groups of eight, the Plate group comprises six teams in total. The top two teams from each of the four groups in the Elite division will enter the quarterfinals after playing a total of seven games each whereas the two teams that will finish at the bottom of in each group will be relegated. On the other hand, the top four teams in the Plate competition will qualify for the knockouts and the finalists will be promoted to the Elite division in the next edition.
The Elite division will be played across 48 venues in the country whereas the Plate competition will be contested at five venues. The defending champions are Saurashtra. Tamil Nadu is in Group C alongside- Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab, Railways, Tripura.
In the ever continuing pursuit of the title Sulakshan Kulkarni, has been appointed the coach of the Tamil Nadu senior cricket team for the next two seasons. The 56-year-old former Mumbai coach takes over from M. Venkataramana in the Tamil Nadu team. Kulkarni has won the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai both as a cricketer and as a coach.
Sulakshan Kashinath Kulkarni, a wicket keeper batsman has played for various teams, mainly Mumbai cricket team; became a Coach after retirement. Kulkarni was a wicket-keeper who batted right-handed. He made his debut for Railways cricket team at the age of 18, but switched to Bombay cricket team in the following season. He is best known for his 459-run opening partnership with Wasim Jaffer against Saurashtra cricket team, Mumbai's highest partnership for any wicket. He was dismissed for his personal best score of 239, while Jaffer went on to score an unbeaten triple-hundred. He played for five different Ranji teams, but 46 of his 65 first-class appearances were for Mumbai – he retired early at 33.
Will the new Captain Sai Kishore and new Coach take TN to the finals remains to be seen !With regards – S. Sampathkumar
5.1.2024
