- The traumatic mauling Team India received in the recently concluded five-match Test series against Australia Down Under was enough to compel the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to crack the whip on the underperforming outfit. Yes, Team India had to endure the ignominy of getting whitewashed by the less fancied New Zealand 3-0 at home in Tests. This unexpected setback was followed by the less than spectacular performance in Australia where the batting efforts of some of the established batters like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned with subpar performances. So much so that Rohit had to be dropped from the last Test owing to poor form right through the series despite being the skipper.
PC:Hindustan Times
- The marquee Virat Kohli is in the midst of a slump in form returning with poor runs when a lot is expected from his willow. Except for Jasprit Bumrah and to a certain extent Yeshaswi Jaiswal, none of the other cricketers could raise the bar while competing against the highly motivated Aussies. Of course, the result says it all. Post the defeat, the BCCI along with the chairman of the senior selection team and Head Coach came out with a set of policy guidelines for the cricketers to ensure the team’s slump in form is arrested as well as allow the whole bunch to perform optimally going forward. One of the interesting guidelines mandated for the Indian cricket team players is to play in the ongoing Ranji Trophy domestic cricket.
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- Mind you, players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja have last played domestic cricket long back. Take the case of Kohli who had played the Ranji match almost a decade back. The same applies to Rohit as well. The ostensible reason cited by the BCCI mandarins is to help the struggling Team India players gain much-needed match practice and find the elusive form. Also, the participation of renowned performers would allow the domestic players a chance to rub shoulders with the superstars as well. Interestingly, several superstars were drafted into their respective state teams to play Ranji matches recently. However, the turnout apparently has not yielded the desired results going by the returns of the superstars who played.
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Rohit representing Mumbai against J&K did not have much to showcase and the team lost too. Rishabh Pant failed in both the innings representing Delhi. Even though Shubhman Gill scored a fighting ton in the second innings representing Punjab against Karnataka, he could not stop the side from going down in Bengaluru. Kohli is set to represent Delhi in the next outing against Railways. Will he be able to score substantially to regain form and be in a good frame of mind before the ICC 50-over Champions Trophy commences in February? The time will reveal what’s in store for Kohli. Nonetheless, the BCCI diktat is timely and will help the domestic structure receive further fillip when superstar players play alongside local players. Hope the policy is adhered to.
