Bengal batsman Sudip Chatterjee plays a shot during the 3rd day of Ranji Trophy semi-final match against Karnataka at Eden Gardens, in Kolkata.
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Karnataka bowler Abhimanyu Mithun appeal for LBW of Bengal batsman Anustup Majumdar (L) during the 3rd day of Ranji Trophy semi-final match at Eden Gardens, in Kolkata.
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly watches from CAB Club house during the 2nd day of Ranji Trophy semifinal match between Bengal and Karnataka in Kolkata.
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Bengal bowler Ishan Porel celebrates after picking up 5 wickets against Karnataka during 2nd day of Ranji Trophy semifinal match at Eden Garden in Kolkata.
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Bengal bowler Ishan Porel celebrates after dismissing Karnataka skipper Karun Nair during 2nd day of Ranji Trophy semifinal match at Eden Garden in Kolkata.
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Bengal bowler Akash Deep celebrates with his teammates after dismissing Karnataka batsman K N Siddharth (not seen) during 2nd day of Ranji Trophy semifinal match at Eden Garden in ...
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Bengal batsman Anustup Majumdar and Akash Deep greet each other during Ranji Trophy semifinal match against Karnataka at Eden Garden in Kolkata
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Bengal batsman Anustup Majumdar(not out 149) returns to the dressing room at the end of their 1st innings during 2nd day of Ranji Trophy semifinal against Karnataka at Eden Garden ...
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Bengal batsman Anustup Majumdar and Ishan Porel greet each other in their last wicket partnership during 2nd day of Ranji Trophy semifinal match against Karnataka at Eden Garden in...
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Bengal batsman Anustup Majumdar celebrates after scoring a century during the Ranji Trophy semi-final match against Karnataka, at Eden Garden in Kolkata
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Madhya Pradesh batsman Mihir Hirwani raises his bat after scoring fifty runs against Mumbai in Ranji Trophy Match at the Wankhede Stadium.
PTI Photo
Mumbai batsman Sarfaraz Khan celebrates his double century against Himachal Pradesh during the Ranji Trophy Match at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala.
PTI Photo
Bengal batsmen Anustup Majumdar (L) and Shreevats Goswami (R) during Ranji Trophy cricket match against Delhi at Eden Garden, in Kolkata.
PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra
Maharashtra cricketers celebrate the dismissal of Assam’s batsman Rahul Hazarika (Right) on the first day of their Ranji Trophy cricket match at Barsapara in Guwahati.
PTI Photo
Arunachal Pradesh batsman Tai Magung bats on the 1st day of U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy match against Assam in Dibrugarh
PTI Photo
Bengal batsman Arnab Nandi (L) with Shreyan Chakraborty run between the wicket against Vidarbha during the first inning of Ranji Trophy cricket match at VCA Stadium, in Nagpur
PTI Photo
Tamil Nadu bowler R Sai Kishore celebrates after dismissing Mumbai batsman S D Lad during the first day of Ranji Trophy cricket match between Tamil Nadu and Mumbai at MAC Stadium, ...
PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar
Bihar left arm bowler and captain Ashutosh Aman in action against Mizoram on the second day of their Ranji Trophy cricket match at Moinul Haq stadium, in Patna
PTI Photo
Mumbai Captain Suryakumar Yadav during the Ranji Trophy cricket match against Karnataka, in Mumbai
PTI Photo
Bengal's most successful bowler Ishan Porel reacts after dismissing Andhra batsman Prithvi Raj Yarra (unseen) during Ranji Trophy match at Eden Garden in Kolkata
Moorthy became the oldest fast bowler at the age of 41 years and 129 days to pickup five wickets when he helped Puducherry bundle our Mumbai for 94 in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
For these colossuses of domestic cricket the call to national duty came in dribs and drabs, naught to some. Still, the love for the game keeps these gifted hands going.
After being dealt a bad hand for long, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Manipur finally got the opportunity to debut in first-class cricket.
Along with the six Northeast states—Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim—Uttarakhand and the Union territory of Puducherry will also debut in the Ranji Trophy, which starts on November 1.
In the dark side of Indian cricket lie players cruelly ignored and denied recognition by the BCCI. Some were too outspoken; others a victim of that bane—politics. This is a roster of that decades-long neglect.