Published: Feb 14, 2011, 02:27 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 02, 2014, 10:37 AM (IST)
By Arjun Ashok
Another exciting season of Indian first class cricket has come to an end. A season that started off with Yuvraj Singh’s breathtaking double hundred in the Irani Trophy and a Rajasthan debutant picking up eight wickets for just 10 runs to rout the opposition for an unheard total of 21 and climaxing with two unlikely teams entering the Ranji Trophy final.
The season saw the rise of young guns like Bhargav Bhatt (52 wickets at just under 24) debutant Deepak Chahar (40 wickets), promising all-rounder Iqbal Abdullah and Ashok Menaria. The 2010-11 season will also be remembered for Tamil Nadu run -machine Subramaniam Badrinath.
Badri has scored runs by the truckload for close to half a decade. Yet, he has been consistently ignored by the national selectors. He topped the run charts with 1,226 runs at a staggering average of 111.
He scored five hundreds and as many half-centuries and was the lynchpin of the TN batting. But even he couldn’t get his team past Rajasthan and into the final of the Ranji Trophy. TN’s dream of winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time since 1987-88 remained a dream.
The season yet again underlined why Badrinath is one of the finest Indian cricketers not to be in the Indian side. His unbeaten 175 under intense pressure against Rajasthan in the semis at Sawai Mansingh Stadium will be long remembered by those who watched it.
He waged a solo but unsuccessful battle to get TN in the final while wickets fell around him. TN was bowled out just an hour before stumps on the final day. For Badri, it was another season of runs, runs and more runs. He was the leading run scorer in the Ranji season with 922 runs at an average of 131.
It has been more than a decade since Badri made his first class debut. While his first few years weren’t exactly spectacular, his last few years have been outstanding. His Ranji average in 2006-07 was a modest 48 and the following season 59. In the season of 2008-09, his performance got better as he averaged 85.That was followed by another good season, where he averaged 86.
But his most successful Ranji season was the season that just ended where he cracked four hundreds and three half centuries while averaging 131. Mystifying how a player of such calibre and consistency could be kept out of the Indian team!
Some argue he doesn’t possess quality to be part of the Indian team while others feel he is too old at 30 to play for the country. A couple of doors might open for him as some of the stalwarts are coming towards the end of their illustrious careers and one doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know whether Badri would fill in the breach. Talent, flair, elegance, grace and youth are the virtues required for a cricketer to make it into the Indian team. They are given more credit than runs, wickets, hard work, dedication and sweat in domestic cricket.
The reason why the run-hungry Badrinath hasn’t played more than just two Tests remains a conundrum.
(Arjun Ashok, 21, is a Chennai-based student who is passionate follower of Chennai Super Kings and basically anything to do with Tamil Nadu and Indian cricket)
