One year of lockdown: Cricketer-turned-coach Sulakshan Kulkarni on the 'sorry' state of domestic cricket

Today marks one year since the nationwide lockdown was declared on March 24 2020 due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic Just like other sports Mumbai cricket too bore the brunt as cricket activities came to an abrupt halt No player coach or other official knew that their lives would be adversely affected due to the lockdownFormer Indian firstclass player and Mumbai cricketer Sulakshan Kulkarni talked about the difficult time Mumbai cricket faced during the lockdown period across the nation Kulkarni went on to address the mental state of players as well as the hardships faced during this periodKulkarni said In the last year during the first six months of lockdown it was quite difficult to stay at home Players had to balance their workouts gymming and practise sessions at home This cannot be done on an everyday basis as one would eventually get bored Working on your fitness levels at home is entirely different from on the field or ground One does need to carry out his workout sessions outdoors mainly on the cricket ground The first six months were pretty harsh on the players The most important thing is to stay motivated which was difficult for themPlayers were out of touch with their game for 6 months which is a long period Be it firstclass cricketers or international cricketers staying away from the game for even a month makes a huge difference he addedFeel sorry for domestic playersSulakshan Kulkarni also went on to address the plight of domestic cricketers during the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID19 pandemic Kulkarni said I feel really sorry for domestic players With 37 Ranji teams with a minimum of 25 players per team approximately over 900 players overall were deprived of finance due to the uncertainty of cricket events such as Mushtaq Ali T20 or Vijay Hazare Many jobs were lost salaries were cut Around 400 Players apart from contract cricketers under BCCI were worried about their futureTalking about the Vijay Hazare tournament Kulkarni said that since it is a oneday tournament the players get a 1day match fee whereas for Mushtaq Ali it is half the fee of onedayThe support staff which includes the coaches trainers and physiotherapists also faced trying times during the lockdownMeasures taken to counter thisTalking about his approach Kulkarni said that he conducted many online coaching classes for players Since the last 6 months I have been coaching players online But for how long a period of time can you carry out online classes Mental boredom for the players as well as the coach does arise at one pointSulakshan Kulkarni has been carrying out specialised coaching for many years and for many players across the globe including the USA South Africa England Malaysia UAE and other countriesOther states began cricket gradually with Maharashtra and Vidarbha getting preparations up 2 months prior to the city of Mumbai However the Mumbai Cricket Association still faced challenges and could not be granted permission to begin cricket activities just yet This being the case players resorted to private practice in their homesIt was only later on that tournaments such as the Mushtaq Ali T20 Vijay Hazare Trophy Indian Premier League and cricket tours beganSulakshan Kulkarni has played for teams such as Mumbai Railways Assam Vidarbha and MP in the Ranji Trophy Duleep Trophy Deodhar and Irani amp Wills Trophy tournamentsKulkarni also shared the field with two of Indias biggest legends in cricket Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar at firstclass levelKulkarni was awarded the Best Ranji Cricketer of Mumbai 199596 Best Batsman in Ranji 199596 as well as the best WicketKeeper award for breaking a National record 38 victims during the Ranji 199697 season He also won three Ranji Trophy and three Irani Trophy Championships as a player for the Mumbai cricket teamSulakshan Kulkarni also coached the Indian Physically challenged team to the World Series Championship England in 2019