How they won it,point by point

It's a maidan incentive that old-school coaches have had in place for years.

It’s a maidan incentive that old-school coaches have had in place for years. A young Sachin Tendulkar won several coins his coach Ramakant Achrekar placed on his stumps,given to the batsman if he kept the bowlers out.

In his debut season as captain,Wasim Jaffer put something similar in place. Not only did Jaffer and Praveen Amre reward performers in the team with cash awards,they also formulated a ranking system for the season.

Jaffer came up with this system and we adopted it on an experimental basis at the start of the season. We wanted to see how the players would react as we were not sure if they would take it seriously, Amre told The Indian Express.

Points were allotted for runs scored,wickets taken and catches held. A catch got a player one point,a score of 60-plus meant two points and a century meant three in the kitty. A five-wicket haul was equivalent to a century. Even the bench was made a part of the system,with cheering from the sidelines and lending a helping hand during net sessions earning points too.

But the system wasnt blindly based on statistics. A crucial knock,or an important breakthrough would be graded to merit. Ramesh Powar played a match-saving knock of 23 off 171 balls against Saurashtra. He got the same points as a centurion would have, Amre said.

After each match,ranking updates would be announced in the dressing room. Gradually,that became a much-awaited event. Besides the applause,there were leg-pulling sessions and mock debates after the announcement of the results.

Basically this was a team-building exercise. We had to play constantly for 80 days,so we needed something to lighten the mood in the dressing room, says Amre.

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Ajinkya Rahane,who was ranked No 1 for the first two weeks,said the system made the team more competitive. It was the only time I got a chance to trump my seniors, the batsman,who finished the season with 1089 runs,said.

Asked who the eventual winner was,Amre smiled before revealing the name: Wasim Jaffer. There were loud claps and no debates when Jaffers name was announced in the dressing room. But since the man who formulated the system finished up as the winner,its likely that a leg-pulling session followed.