Have you heard of Buchi Babu Trophy? Unless you’re a hardcore cricket follower, chances are reasonably high that you have not. It’s not one of those blue stripe tournaments. It’s not on live TV and not a lot of people watch it. Performance in this doesn’t count in a player’s official career records.
Yet, for decades, it occupied a special place in India’s domestic cricket calendar. Organised by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), it took place just before the start of the national first-class season. A number of state associations sent their teams to get ready for Ranji Trophy. That’s because this tournament gave the players just the right kind of preparation.
Named after M Buchi Babu Naidu, who is widely regarded as the ‘Father of South Indian Cricket’, this competition went off the calendar after 2018. The TNCA got busy with the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), which became a televised, popular and successful T20 event, after being launched in 2016. Having been unable to conduct the Buchi Babu Trophy for a few years, the TNCA revived it last year. This year, they are playing it in a four-day format. Ishan Kishan struck a hundred leading Jharkhand, after being rebuked for neglecting red-ball matches featuring his state.
It’s difficult to describe the benefits and beauties of this tournament unless one has seen it first-hand. These games are usually played in nondescript grounds, far away from the spotlight. Although international players are often part of this, it doesn’t generate media interest. People hardly notice the players they would otherwise watch on TV or die to get selfies with. It’s not a profitable venture either. The TNCA still hosts it, because it’s part of their culture.
Yet, if you ask the players, they take it seriously. That’s because this event provides the kind of ambience and playing conditions that they need ahead of the long domestic season, at a time when the monsoons prevent cricket in vast parts of the country. Not that it doesn’t rain at all in Tamil Nadu this time of the year. But the venues are so well equipped — some of them with underground drainage systems — that they pull it off. They played in Chennai a few years ago, when heavy rains caused the water reservoirs to overflow.
Mohammad Kaif was there another year, leading Andhra Pradesh. He had said that other than the coaches ferrying the teams from the hotel to the ground, everything about the Buchi Babu Trophy was of Ranji Trophy level. He also mentioned that the pitches are usually on the slower side. Otherwise, he rated the level of competition as high, because most of the states send their first-choice teams, the umpiring standards are good, the grounds are of first-class quality. Even the food is proper. Put together, this tournament offered what Ranji Trophy does, without only the third umpire.
This year, the Buchi Babu Trophy is played in Coimbatore, Dindigul, Salem and Tirunelveli. There are 12 teams taking part. And four-day matches means this is just the ideal preparation that these teams could have had. Having launched a successful T20 competition in the form of TNPL, the TNCA possibly deserves a pat on the back for not forgetting what it used to do. It has taken a bit of time, but it’s still very good to see that they have retained their respect for the longer format.