‘An open canvas’: Arun Lal wants to reshape Bengal cricket from the grassroots up

Arun Lal previously coached Bengal’s senior men’s team for three seasons, guiding it to the Ranji Trophy final in 2019-20 | Photo Credit: RAJEEV BHATT

There is no shortage of ideas running through Arun Lal’s mind.

In fact, the former India opener has so much he wants to accomplish that he describes his new assignment as an ‘open canvas’.

Having taken over as Director of Cricket at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), Lal is looking beyond the immediate demands of the senior team.

His ambition is to work on the entire cricketing ecosystem, starting with the youngest players and extending to the infrastructure that supports them.

For someone who has spent years around Bengal cricket and was the key architect behind the State’s solitary Ranji Trophy win four decades back, the challenges are familiar.

The shortage of grounds, the long monsoon months that interrupt cricket and the difficulty of keeping promising youngsters within the system are issues that cannot be addressed overnight.

But Lal believes the first step is to get more cricket played. “Basically, the canvas is open to me. I have to decide how we can improve Bengal cricket in every sphere. The most important area for me is junior cricket,” he tells Sportstar in his first interview since taking charge, last month.

Lal coached Bengal’s senior men’s team for three seasons, guiding it to the Ranji Trophy final in 2019-20. He stepped down in July 2022, citing age and fatigue.

His emphasis on junior cricket is not merely about identifying the next promising batter or fast bowler. It is about creating an environment in which children are exposed to competitive cricket much earlier, play more frequently and remain part of a structured system as they progress through age-group levels.

“We want to expand its scope. Given the limited resources, particularly the availability of grounds in Kolkata, we want to organise more matches and get more young children involved in competitive cricket, even at the under-11 and under-14 levels. They need to learn to be competitive at a younger age,” he says.

Lal also wants to revisit the way the first and second division leagues are conducted. Better wickets, grounds and umpiring, along with more meaningful contests, are all part of his plan. The objective is to make the domestic structure more competitive rather than allow it to function merely as a calendar of fixtures.

“It’s about how can we make them more competitive? How can we improve the wickets, grounds, umpiring and everything else associated with league cricket? We want more competitive leagues and more consequential matches,” he says.

Making the monsoon count

If there is one problem that Lal knows will require considerable attention, it is Bengal’s weather. Four months of persistent rains leave little room for cricket, creating a significant gap in the development calendar. For a state looking to nurture young talent, losing July, August, September and October to largely inactive months is a costly proposition.

Rather than accept the interruption as inevitable, Lal wants to explore alternative playing surfaces and covered facilities that will allow youngsters to continue training and playing matches.

“We need all-weather wickets and covered practice facilities. July, August, September and October are practically four months without cricket in Bengal,” he says.

He is considering covered grounds, matting and semi-matting surfaces that can accommodate spikes. The broader objective is to make the off-season productive, particularly for age-group players who need sustained match exposure.

The Dumurjala ground in Howrah, meanwhile, offers an immediate opportunity. While the larger complex and its practice facilities are still part of the development plan, the full-sized ground is ready to host matches.

“The ground is already ready, and we are going to start playing matches there. The larger complex is peripheral in that sense. It will house practice facilities and other infrastructure, but the ground itself is ready. So, we will be playing a lot of matches there,” Lal says.

For him, however, infrastructure is ultimately meaningful only when it translates into playing opportunities. “Whatever facilities you build, my thinking is that match play must remain the priority. Eighty per cent of any cricket facility is the ground itself.”

Keeping talent within the system

One of Lal’s biggest concerns is what happens to talented youngsters after they move out of an age-group category. He does not want a promising under-16 cricketer to disappear from the radar simply because he has crossed the age limit and is yet to make the under-19 team.

His solution is to create a larger pool of players who train together, receive regular attention and remain connected to the association. The off-season, in particular, will be important.

“If you identify the top 40 under-16 boys, you cannot allow them to disappear from the system once they cross 16. Sometimes they reappear at the Under-19 level, but ideally, we should keep them together. This year’s batch and last year’s batch should continue training together,” he explains.

For Lal, who has played 16 Tests and 13 ODIs for India, this is where a Director of Cricket’s responsibilities extend beyond the playing field. He wants to bring in sports psychologists, nutritionists and dieticians to help players understand the demands of professional cricket.

“I am going to be actively involved in that area as well. We will bring in sports psychologists to help the players. We will also get nutritionists and dieticians involved.”

He believes Bengal already has the cricketing ability to compete with the best. The problem, according to him, is converting that potential into results when the stakes are highest.

“I consider Bengal one of the top three teams in the country across formats. We are doing well in several specific areas. But we have not been able to crack the final stages, particularly the semifinals and finals. That is an area we need to work on. Perhaps a sports psychologist can help us,” he says.

There is also a familiar figure he hopes will play a part in the exercise. Sourav Ganguly, the CAB president, will be roped in to interact with the players and share his experiences. Lal believes the former India captain’s presence itself can have an impact on young cricketers.

“We also have Ganguly, who is a tremendous motivator and mentor. We are going to have him conduct sessions with the players. He will be inspirational, even if they do not understand everything he says. The very fact that he is speaking to them will be a huge source of motivation.”

The emphasis on nutrition is equally important. Lal is aware that many youngsters come from backgrounds where access to proper guidance on diet and recovery is limited.

“Many of them have no clue about nutrition,” he says candidly.

For now, he is less interested in making grand announcements than getting the basic processes moving. “The basic idea is to get everything implemented and moving. Ninety per cent of the job is getting started. Once you start, things will fall into place.”

The same thinking extends to women’s cricket. With the game expanding rapidly, Lal wants Bengal to cast its net wider and identify girls at a much younger age. He does not want the women’s programme to be treated as an extension of the men’s structure, but rather developed with the same emphasis on match exposure and competitive opportunities.

“We want the girls to play more matches and get more young girls involved in the game. We will encourage participation right from the Under-11 level. We want to catch them young,” he says.

His suggestion is to introduce age-appropriate formats, with lighter balls and shorter pitches, while ensuring that the children get to experience tournament cricket. The idea is simple: make the game accessible, enjoyable and competitive from an early age.

Making the Ranji Trophy matter again

For all his emphasis on expanding the base, Lal is equally concerned about the larger direction of Indian domestic cricket. The growing popularity of T20 cricket and the IPL has changed the aspirations of young cricketers. He recognises the commercial success of the shortest format but believes red-ball cricket needs a more compelling proposition.

His observations on the Ranji Trophy are particularly pointed.

“Hardly anybody comes to watch the Ranji Trophy. In fact, the BCCI should look at this seriously and enhance the status of the Ranji Trophy. Make it big,” he says.

Lal has an unconventional suggestion: introduce an auction system in domestic cricket, allowing states to bid for some of the country’s leading players. He is also keen on substantially increasing the prize money, attracting sponsors and giving the competition greater television visibility.

“You could have the top 50 or 60 players auctioned to different states. I am just thinking aloud. I haven’t really given it much thought yet. But I am saying that the Ranji Trophy’s stature has to be enhanced. Have prize money of Rs. 10 crore. Just make it big.”

He is quick to acknowledge that the IPL cannot simply be replicated in red-ball cricket. But he believes its success offers lessons in creating an attractive sporting product.

“One of the greatest success stories in sport, anywhere in the world, is the IPL. I am not saying we should replicate it, but we should learn from it. Enhance the Ranji Trophy. Get the press involved. Bring television coverage in a big way. Get sponsors involved. Get people to watch it.”

For Lal, the issue goes beyond empty stands.

It is about the future of the format itself. If children grow up watching only T20 cricket, their natural aspiration will be to become T20 cricketers. The Ranji Trophy needs to become an event that young players want to be associated with.

“How are you going to produce red-ball cricketers if youngsters are not watching red-ball cricket? It is simple common sense. You can do all the coaching and introduce all kinds of programmes, but you will not enhance the game until you get the numbers,” he says.

He has noticed the shift in aspirations first-hand.

“Today, every child wants to play in the IPL. I have never heard a youngster tell me that he wants to win the Ranji Trophy for his state. Not one.”

The emergence of players such as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has only reinforced his belief that the next generation is already pushing boundaries. Lal sees such prodigies not merely as individual success stories but as players who change perceptions about what is possible at a young age.

He draws parallels with some of Indian cricket’s defining moments — the 1983 World Cup triumph, Ganguly’s leadership, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s rise and Virat Kohli’s emphasis on fitness.

“We need people like that. Sooryavanshi has suddenly opened people’s minds. Earlier, when you saw a 16-year-old, you thought of him as a kid. But he is not a kid. He is our kid. Under-16 cricket is no longer just children’s cricket. It is world cricket.”

For Bengal, the challenge is to create an environment where the next such talent does not have to look elsewhere for opportunities, facilities or direction.

Lal knows that the assignment is a substantial one. There are leagues to improve, grounds to develop, youngsters to track and a domestic structure that needs to become more competitive. He is also conscious that the CAB, which he considers one of the better-run associations in the country, cannot afford to become complacent.

“We need to keep getting better. We also need to learn from certain aspects of what other associations are doing,” he says.

For now, he is not putting a deadline on his vision or promising an overnight transformation. His immediate demand is far more basic, and perhaps more telling. “I want to get more matches played, particularly for youngsters. I want to establish a structured system for junior cricket.”

For a man who has spent much of his cricketing life fighting battles on and off the field, the next challenge is to ensure that Bengal’s young cricketers have more opportunities to fight their own.