Sunil Gavaskar: Priyank Panchal didn't get the India cap, but that doesn't make his contribution to Indian cricket any less
This year's Indian Premier League (IPL) saw a new champion. Two long-suffering teams — Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings — battled for the title in the best T20 league in the world. In the end, RCB came out on top, ending an 18-year wait.
That said, this column carries great pleasure and quite a bit of sadness about the retirement of one of Indian cricket's wonderful servants. It is a great pleasure to recognise his contribution to our beloved game, and sadness because we won't see him play again in his favourite whites.
Priyank Panchal, the former Gujarat captain, made the tough call to quit Ranji Trophy cricket after serving his State for almost two decades. He was part of the Ranji Trophy-winning Gujarat team, but if there's one regret he has, it would be that he didn't get the India cap. He came close to it on a couple of occasions but didn't have the good fortune to get it. That doesn't make his contribution to Indian cricket any less than those who have played for India. Sometimes it's just the misfortune of having been born at the same time as some others who were selected ahead of him and did well enough never to allow him to replace them.
From time immemorial, this has been the case in not just Indian cricket but world cricket, where some very good players have missed out on their country's cap. Look at Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar. They would have been certainties in most other countries' Test teams, but with the four great spinners in Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar, and S. Venkataraghavan around, they couldn't get a look-in even once. Similarly, when the Fab Five batters of Indian cricket were around, many heavy run-scorers in Ranji Trophy cricket couldn't find a place in the team. Who could replace Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and V.V.S Laxman when they were in their pomp? So, Panchal also missed out despite scoring consistently in the domestic circuit.
Apart from not getting the India cap, he also wouldn't have much to show in his bank balance, despite spending the better part of his youth trying to make a career and a living out of the game. It is here that the lopsided nature of remuneration for other domestic tournaments and that of the IPL, another domestic tournament, stands out.
It's doubtful if, after playing for two decades in all kinds of weather conditions all over the country, including the bitter cold in the North of India and extreme heat elsewhere, and also amid rains sometimes, Panchal has made even Rs. 3 crore in Ranji Trophy fees. Compare this with uncapped players in the IPL who make Rs. 3 crore-plus a season and often do not even play a single game.
The argument that it is market forces is not really valid, for more often than not, it is sheer good fortune as some franchises want to take a punt with young talent. Have a look at the uncapped crorepatis throughout the IPL, and you will find that very few have gone on to do big things for India. It's their good luck that has made them the crores that they actually don't deserve.
Make no mistake, it is not their fault if franchises splurge on them, but then when you see somebody like Panchal spend his whole youth playing the game in all conditions as stated above, and then not even finish with half the amount that some uncapped youngster gets, it makes others also wonder whether it's worth playing in the national tournament, the Ranji Trophy.
The BCCI has increased the match fees in recent times, and that's very good, but if they add the slab system of fees whereby those who play more matches get more, then that would make more players turn up for the Ranji Trophy instead of feigning injury just a month or so before the IPL starts, so that they don't get injured and miss out on the IPL.
If the BCCI can also increase the match fees for the teams that reach the knockouts, then that also would be a great incentive for the players to keep playing further, instead of withdrawing in fear of injury before the IPL. Money is not the issue for the BCCI and its affiliated units, so hopefully, these suggestions will be considered before the new domestic season starts.
For now, congratulations to RCB and all the best to our boys as they take on England in what promises to be a tough series.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
17 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Gen-Next in focus: Kriish Tyagi steps into the big league
Kriish Tyagi, India's top-ranked junior player, is No. 44 on the ITF World Junior Tennis Tour and has seven singles titles to his name. But having turned 18 in April, he is now in his final year competing as a junior. The young player from Sarjapur, Bengaluru, now finds himself at a defining crossroads — where the river of junior tennis meets the vast, uncharted ocean of the senior circuit. While a strong finish in his final showing at the Junior Grand Slams remains important, Kriish isn't afraid to make sacrifices for the bigger picture — which is why, after completing his Class 12 exams last month and facing limited clay-court training options in India, he and coach Harsha Lingappa chose to skip the French Open this year. 'The quality of clay courts in Europe is something you don't get in India. I don't feel my game is ready for that kind of clay. It's just tough to get a hang of it when you go for tournaments,' Kriish told Sportstar. He is, however, looking forward to Wimbledon and the US Open. 'Playing on grass courts is mainly about hand skills, slices, volleys and serves, and I feel I'm good at that. As far as the US Open is concerned, I've won all my titles on hard courts. So, I'm confident about that surface,' said Kriish. Looking to build his ATP ranking, Kriish has also been adding more Futures events to his calendar — a move that's already showing results. He reached the semifinals as a qualifier at a $30,000 tournament in Ahmedabad and followed it up with another semifinal finish at a $15,000 event in Tashkent. Once a swimming enthusiast, Kriish took up tennis at the age of 10 during his after-school lessons. Sapna, Kriish's mother, has been a huge pillar of strength for him as his father, Ajay, works in the port sector in Jeddah, while his elder brother, Akash, is employed at Procter & Gamble in Pennsylvania. When a young Kriish, inspired after watching a match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on TV, told his mother about his desire to give tennis a try, she didn't discourage him despite knowing well the tough road ahead for Indian tennis players. 'I just told him to be prepared and work very hard — don't worry about the results. You have to be ready for all the ups and downs,' recalled Sapna. While other top Indian juniors, such as Manas Dhamne and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, went abroad to train, Kriish chose to stay in India, joining the Harsha Lingappa Tennis Academy in Bengaluru in 2021. 'I saw Kriish for the first time in 2021 at an ITF tournament in Nepal,' said coach Harsha. 'He was a very gritty player. He wanted to win the match but didn't know how to do it — strategy or technique-wise. It was easy for me to train this kid because he gave his 100 per cent on the court. We worked completely on his serve, his forehand, added a bit of strategy, and created a weapon out of it.' A few months before appearing for his Class 12 exams via the National Institute of Open Schooling, Kriish received an offer from a US college to play on the NCAA circuit — a path many young tennis players around the world have taken. However, whether he takes that route will depend on how the coming months unfold. 'At the moment, I'm signed up with Texas A&M University, but I feel if I do something big — like maybe get into a Grand Slam or perform really well at the men's level — I'm going to take a one-year break, train more, and try to see if I can go further up before rushing to college,' said Kriish. STATFILE ITF Juniors Ranking 46 (as of June 3, 2025) ATP Ranking 1166 ITF Juniors Titles 7 Junior Grand Slam Appearances Australian Open (2023–2025) Coach Harsha Lingappa Sponsors IndianOil and Yonex Favourite Players Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka
Hindustan Times
19 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
RCB's IPL celebration-turned-tragedy—who is to blame?
Death is used liberally in cricket as a metaphor. Bowling at the death. Reviving an innings. Coming back from the dead. Nobody ever expects it to stop being a metaphor, though. When that happens, the cricketing world stands numb with shock, grief and even fury. But the people who died in the stampede-like situation at the Royal Challengers Bangalore's celebration event won't be around to register the deluge of outrage and sympathy their deaths have caused. It was perhaps the strangest two days in the life of any cricket team or its fans. On June 3, there was a peak of euphoria like no other. On June 4, there was a depth of despair that couldn't have been fathomed. There are 11 fans whose families will never hear them smile, laugh, reminisce again. They had gone to the event thinking it was an extension of the happiest day of their lives. Everyone who was there at the event would have gone to celebrate. Everyone. And therein lies the issue. When it's to do with a franchise like RCB, 'everyone' is a massive number. Why the hurry to celebrate? There are questions that must arise from the tragedy. Who decided that a celebration involving the teeming public of a metropolis, less than 24 hours after a momentous win, was a good idea? Didn't anyone understand the emotional magnitude of the victory? RCB had won the IPL after 18 years, having come close several times, having had the players to go all the way often, but never winning? They had become the favourite punchline of IPL trophy jokes. And then to actually win it, was like deliverance. If it was so for players, it would have been doubly so for fans. The players get to pack up after a disappointing season and move on to the next tournament. They have to compartmentalise to succeed, because it is their profession. The fan has carried the hurt for 18 years. Did no one expect an absolute outpouring of fandom on the streets then? Perhaps most important of all, even if the franchise wanted to celebrate in that giddy rush of a first-time victory, why were the officials responsible for logistics and security so blase about letting the event take place? Why were they not forcefully saying it was not possible at such short notice? A 'no' from the authorities would have meant a postponing of the celebration. It would have allowed the initial adrenaline rush to at least dissipate. There would have still been massive throngs of people - but better security and planning would have been in place. The answers to these questions will be lost amidst the blame-game that inevitably emerges whenever there's a national tragedy. There have already been arrests, or calls to arrest, officials from the franchise, the event management company and those from the Karnataka State Cricket Association. These bodies were part of organising the celebration, sure. But could they have done it without official sanction? The other fallout of any national tragedy is that there is never one tragedy: there are two. First, is the tragic event itself. And that is followed by a howling lynch mob online who want their bloodlust satisfied by ritual sacrifice. So you have social media abuzz with trends that call for the arrest of Virat Kohli. You have editorials that demand victims' families be compensated X amount or Y amount. You have people call for the banning of RCB. I'd be willing to bet that none of those making these sorts of outrageous demands feel as much sadness for the victims as they feel joy in tearing down people for their own agendas. Because how is a Virat Kohli responsible for any of the tragic events, in any manner whatsoever? How does banning the franchise address why the stampede happened and how to ensure it never gets repeated? How does an internet warrior sitting at home determine not just what sum of money should be paid, but who should be paying it? The stampede, the loss of lives, and the injuries and trauma was a tragedy. It's important to hold people accountable for it. It's equally important to not point the finger at those who weren't central to the decisions that led to the tragedy.
Time of India
23 minutes ago
- Time of India
India will replace the skill side of it: Ricky Ponting on team's transition from Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting expressed that while replacing legendary India batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would be a hard thing to do in Test format, they have the quality and skill in their players to cope with this massive task better than other teams. The five-test tour of England, starting June 20 at Leeds and lasting until August 2025, is set to be a heavy one for fans and players alike. With senior stars Rohit and Virat having retired from the longest format of the game, the onus lies on the Shubman Gill-led new-look Indian side to prove themselves away from home in tough English conditions and ensure that Indian cricket is safe. Several newer talents and domestic cricket/Indian Premier League (IPL) performers like Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan have earned a ticket to the UK as a part of the main squad. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Crossout 2.0: Supercharged Crossout Play Now Undo Speaking in the ICC Review as quoted by ICC, Ponting said, "It is always very hard to replace players like that that have been around for so long, that have played that much Test cricket. But if any country can do it and do it quickly, India can because of the amount of young talent that they have." "I have seen it firsthand for 10 years around the IPL, and we have seen the emergence of (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and these sorts of guys who have come into international cricket with India and done really well pretty much straight away." Live Events "The skill side of it is one thing to replace, and I think India will replace the skill side of it easily enough, but the experience is the big thing that will be missing for them. So now, even with a young captain with Shubman Gill , they will still have some experience with KL Rahul and (Jasprit) Bumrah and these sort of guys." "But I think if you look at a rebuilding sort of phase, I think India can cope with it better than most other teams," he concluded. Rohit bid adieu to Test cricket last month, and a few days later, Virat bid his farewell to the format with a heartfelt note on Instagram. Rohit made his Test debut against West Indies in November 2013 and since then, Rohit featured in 67 Tests for India, scoring 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties, his best score being 212. He is the 16th-highest run-getter in the format for India. After years of up and down performances, particularly away, the start of the ICC World Test Championship as a proper tournament revived his Test career as he went on to have a prolific run as an opener. In 40 Tests during WTC history, he made 2,716 runs at an average of 41.15, with nine centuries and eight fifties. His best score was 212. He is India's top run-getter, century maker in WTC history and overall at 10th among top run-getters. Whereas, Virat first represented India in Tests against West Indies in 2011 and in the coming years, became the country's biggest ambassador for the longest format, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 in 123 appearances, with 30 centuries and 31 fifties. He is the fourth-highest run-getter for India in Tests. He also made a massive impact as India's most successful Test captain, winning 40 out of 68 matches, leading them to numerous iconic wins overseas. As a leader, he developed a massive roster of fast bowling talent for India and was an advocate for top-level fitness and inculcated in the team a "win at all costs" attitude and ability to take on their opponents head-on.
