The BCCI Should Ban Those Ignoring Ranji Trophy: A Comprehensive Guide

The BCCI Should Ban Those Ignoring Ranji Trophy: A Comprehensive Guide

Rohit Sharma's remark has sparked support from several state associations, but it was also noted that the BCCI needs to build up a system to avoid such situations. Other than the test cricket match against England, the ICT (Indian Cricket Team) is concerned with a far more important issue. 

This issue led the Secretary of BCCI's intervention, Jay Shah, to send a warning call to all the centrally contracted players who have been giving priority to IPL over domestic cricket. In such a scenario, it is the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Rohit Sharma, who stepped in post the team's series win against Ben Store and his blue men in Ranchi. Sharma stated that "opportunities in test cricket will only be given to those showing hunger for the format.”

Sharma made such a statement in the post-match conference, which was held at JSCA International Stadium on Monday, which ignited a furor among the state-based associations. 

With the arrival of the T20 franchise leagues across the globe, the club vs the country debate has influenced a few cricketing nations. But based on the pattern observed by BCCi of the Indian Cricketers over the last few years, a warning was issued by Shah this month. 

Such a warning stated that the players who will give preference to league cricket over domestic cricket are bound to face severe consequences. The comment by Shah came into play when players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan showed reluctance to participate in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season rather than focussing on the prep of IPL, which begins next month.

In the IPL vs Domestic Cricket episode, Rohit said, "Jin logon ko bhookh hai, hum unhi logon ko mauka denge. Agar hunger nahi hai to unko khila ke koi matlab nahi hai (We will give opportunities to only those who are hungry. There's no point in playing those who don't have the hunger)."

The hunger that Rohit is talking about was very much there on display when young blood like Srafaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Akash Deep delivered outstanding performances against their match with England and never gave India a chance to miss the service of senior players like Kohli who could not be a part of the contest for respective reasons. 

"I concur with the Indian Captain. There should be hunger in younger cricketers to play the longest format," Abhilash Khandekar, president of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, told PTI. "Ranji Trophy cannot be taken lightly by any player; it is the backbone of Indian cricket. It is the most important tournament in domestic cricket. This should be followed up in other formats in domestic cricket."

Dilip Vegsarkar, former India cricketer gave regards to the fact that BCCI's diktat could help these cricketers perform better against variety. He stated, "Playing Ranji is very important. It helps you play spin better on Indian wickets, and your overall skills are improved. And when you play foreign teams, it becomes easier (to face spin)," said Vengsarkar, himself a great player of spin. "I feel it is a player's wish whether to play Ranji or not. If he doesn't want to play, we have enough in India to choose from; they will play and establish themselves. No one is bigger than the game. No one is indispensable."

Meanwhile, a state unit official, on anonymity condition, proposed that India Test regulars should also feature in the Ranji Trophy category of matches. This would surely work as a motivation for young players. He further stated that the BCCI should give the power to the state authorities to ban those players who ignore domestic cricket. 

"This was a much-needed step and should have been taken earlier. If an India player is regularly featuring in Ranji Trophy, it acts as a massive motivator to the younger players in the squad. I would also want the BCCI to empower state units to ban those players who don't play Ranji Trophy. If a senior is dropped for once, the juniors would not dare to ignore their red ball commitments for T20 cricket," he said.

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