Sanjay Manjrekar bats at CCI for day-night Tests

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar delivering the ninth annual Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture at the Cricket Club of India yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Sanjay Manjrekar knows a thing or two about day-night cricket. We are not only referring to the countless one-day internationals he has played and commentated on, but the fact that he has led a team in a domestic day-night final.

That was in the 1996-97 season when he guided Mumbai to victory over Delhi at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior in his penultimate season in first-class cricket. While delivering the ninth Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture at the Cricket Club of India yesterday, Manjrekar batted for day-night Tests in India, something that has yet to come to fruition in this part of the world.

"The only way to get more people to watch Test cricket is to increase its viewership, popularity and thereby its quality is day-night Test matches. Why aren't we playing more day-night Test matches when it's a no-brainer that it will draw more viewership," Manjrekar asked.

The first day-night, pink-ball Test was played in Australia who locked horns with neighbours New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in 2015. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Team India are still not in favour of the pink ball Test. "An offer was recently rejected by India because the players were vary of it, vary of the pink ball, the dew factor etc. I always believed that conditions are not unfair, they are the same for both sides," explained Manjrekar, who scored 2043 runs in 37 Tests and 1994 runs in 74 ODIs.

Back to Gwalior 1997. Manjrekar, then Mumbai captain, scored 78 in his team's mammoth first innings total of 630 which included hundreds from Amol Muzumdar (144) and Jatin Paranjpe (111) against a feisty Delhi led by Ajay Sharma. "It was actually one of the most enjoyable Ranji Trophy games that I played," Manjrekar stressed, remembering the wholesome crowd turn-out at the neutral venue. "There were cricketing issues - the ball would lose its colour, the second new ball was available every 40 overs or something but that was the same for both sides - that's the point I was making. A lot of people came to watch, it was entertaining, we loved it and we won one of the best Ranji Trophy games that I played."

Manjrekar also spoke about the slow over-rate issue. "For God's sake, do something about over-rates. There is no way this sport will find appeal or connect with the youth of today when most of the time they see players walking, standing and having a drink. There was a time when 19 overs were bowled in an hour, now it is down to 12," said Manjrekar, pointing to the Asia Cup final as well.

He had a solution, "We could have a tennis-like system where they have a timer in between games and when players take a little break. In cricket, it can be between overs. Whatever works… we must make the game move faster to stay relevant in today's world."

Manjrekar felt the longer format of the game (Test cricket) is too hard for the current generation and they get attracted towards T20 leagues because of fame and money. "Today's Test cricket is played in front of empty stands and the IPL in front of frenzied crowds of 50,000-plus and millions watching on TV. It's about playing the IPL at all costs. Player injuries surface before and after the IPL. The IPL offers you fame and money and who will say no to this? Also, Test cricket is just too damn hard, so it's no wonder that many are choosing T20 leagues over Test matches," said Manjrekar.

Also Read: Asia Cup 2018: Expect tight cricket in the tournament, says Sanjay Manjrekar

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