A new sponsor enters the fray

Chennai Cricket

As a new season unfolds in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association league, it is transfer time as always, and team compositions undergo the changes customary to this time of the year. The proceedings this season have been enlivened by the entry of Godrej Sara Lee as a major new sponsor, reportedly with salary packages undreamt of in earlier years. When Mambalam Mosquitos, the club they are supporting, arrived on the Madras league scene way back in 1949, their sting or lack of it was the target of substantial badinage, but this time around they have stung their opponents even before a single ball has been bowled in anger in the league - by doing some deft headhunting with days to go for the new season.

Their star recruit has been former Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh, whose flirtation with MRF-Globe Trotters has been as brief as his earlier affair with Chemplast-Jolly Rovers.

It is not my intention to criticise players like Ramesh for their perceived lack of loyalty to their clubs. You really can’t blame a sportsman, particularly someone treated as roughly by the selectors as Ramesh has been, for wanting to capitalise on the opportunities that come his way during what is essentially a highly insecure profession. And when the carrot on offer is as juicy as the one said to have been dangled by Godrej Sara Lee, it can test the best of us.

While Mambalam Mosquitos have strengthened their line-up considerably from their bottom half position last season, four times in a row champions Jolly Rovers make a confident start , despite losing a couple of young players of promise, and the almost certain, continuous absence of India players L Balaji, Hemang Badani and Dinesh Mongia. They have brought back Tinu Yohanan, the pace bowler whom the Indian selectors tried and discarded without a fair trial, and that should make up for the exit of Prashant Chandran, another talented quickie from Kerala. Globe Trotters should struggle a bit initially with two of their players serving out a two-match ban imposed on them by the TNCA.

Former Indian medium pacer Roger Binny's son Stuart, Jacob Martin, Pravanjan Mullick, Kulamani Parida and Pankaj Dharmani will be some of the players from other states who will be seen in action. According to a press report, such imports will be stopped from the 2005-2006 season.

State Bank of India and Indian Bank return to the first division this year, but without major new recruitment, they will struggle to stay, given the competitive nature of the league.

With the TNCA increasingly showing great efficiency in completing the league in the first two-three months of the season, there is talk in the air that some companies supporting cricket are considering hiring players for such limited periods. If that really happens, it will indeed be a body blow from the players’ point of view.

Every year, there’s hope in the air that Tamil Nadu will regain the Ranji Trophy after a long gap, and this year is no exception. Will our boys discover the magic formula at last?

More Articles	Published on 5th July, 2004
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