Applaud, yes — but heed the bigger picture: Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s record ton exposes domestic cricket’s imbalance | Cricket News

By noon on Wednesday, Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored 190 off 84 balls for Bihar against Arunachal Pradesh, featuring a 36-ball century and the fastest 150 in List A cricket overtaking legends like AB de Villiers and Jos Buttler.Of course, he was among the top trends on X in India.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!BCCI president Mithun Manhas headlined the cheerleading by posting: “Record Alert: Bihar posted a total of 574/6 in 50 overs against Arunachal Pradesh at the JSCA Oval Ground, Ranchi, today, recording the highest team total in the history of List A cricket. The previous record was 502/2, scored by Tamil Nadu against Arunachal Pradesh at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Nov 21 2022, during the Vijay Hazare Trophy.”

At the age of 14, Suryavanshi is no stranger to social-media fame. His effort came on a day when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both scored centuries in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Andhra and Sikkim respectively, and Ishan Kishan recorded a 33-ball hundred for Jharkhand against Karnataka, only for his team to lose despite posting 412 for 9. There were 22 tons scored on Wednesday. 10 totals were over 300. Two totals over 400 and one over 500.But it was Arunachal Pradesh’s 397-run defeat that highlighted the gulf in quality between established teams and the newer northeastern sides. Earlier this season, Meghalaya’s Akash Kumar hit eight consecutive sixes against Arunachal in the Ranji Trophy. Since the induction of the new state teams in 2018, the frequency of such one-sided records has raised questions about the domestic structure’s competitiveness.Suryavanshi has emerged as a prized asset for the BCCI after a standout IPL season. Yet, he plays in the Plate Group alongside the northeastern teams, many of whose players lack formal training infrastructure. These sides were granted First-Class status by a Supreme Court-appointed committee of administrators (CoA) in 2018. The BCCI has been working on providing top-class facilities in these states since.

Over the past two years the BCCI has sought to restore domestic cricket’s stature as a premier breeding ground for talent. However, it needs to be seen if a generational talent like Suryavanshi gains meaningful experience against largely amateur opposition.“I would like to believe Suryavanshi is mature enough by now to understand the value of these runs against such weak opponents. The BCCI’s centre of excellence (CoE) has to play a critical role in his development. BCCI has done well by giving him exposure in the recent Rising Stars Asia Cup,” former national selector and BCCI General Manager of Cricket Operations Saba Karim told TOI. “The Northeastern states will take a long time to come up to a basic standard of competition. They should only play T20 cricket at the top level to get exposure to high-quality cricket. And for Bihar to make it to the Elite group consistently, the system there also needs to develop, which will not happen overnight.”Devang Gandhi, who was a national selector when the new teams were inducted, said: “As selectors, you will never take these records into account. BCCI has to be proactive. It has to create a parallel system for talented players like Suryavanshi coming from these states.”“For Suryavanshi’s growth, he needs to play tough First-Class cricket. At the moment, he is only playing white-ball cricket. BCCI will have to find a way where Suryavanshi has exposure to top-class red-ball cricket. It shouldn’t be the case where the hours he is putting in domestic cricket are becoming meaningless. At his age, bad habits in the game can creep in easily if he is exposed to poor quality cricket for a long time,” Gandhi added.

Former India opener WV Raman, a former coach at the National Cricket Academy, recommended that the CoE field its own team in domestic competitions so that emerging talent receives sustained high-quality exposure. “You can’t say these runs are meaningless because these teams are part of the system. But, something needs to be done about the current structure of domestic cricket. The CoE can have its own team in domestic cricket. Then a lot of talented players stay in the system, playing top-class cricket,” Raman told TOI.Beyond structural changes, the board must intensify its development efforts in the northeastern states, where extravagant match fees are yet to translate into improved performance. “There are certain teams that have their lead performers who are outstation players. That isn’t helping the growth of cricket in the region. More local players from these states to stand out. Only then will the standard of cricket rise,” Gandhi reckoned.Raman also suggested that veteran former India players who tailor their domestic appearances around IPL commitments be encouraged to mentor players in these states. “There are veteran former India players who pick and choose domestic matches just to stay in shape for the IPL. BCCI can encourage them to take up mentorship roles with these states and pay them for their services. That way they can also pick and choose their own matches besides passing invaluable experience to the players,” he said.