Photo : PTI
Former India captain Kapil Dev has said that it doesn’t look good at all if players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma turn up once in 12 years to play domestic cricket and the system should be strong enough to make them play often. Kohli and Rohit played their first Ranji Trophy matches in 12 and nine years in January after BCCI issued a fresh mandate on domestic cricket participation.
In the wake of a poor run in Tests from India’s mainstay batters, BCCI, once again, mandated domestic cricket participation, making it mandatory for all contracted players to stay in contention for a place in the national team.
Kapil remained unbothered over Kohli and Rohit’s poor return to the Ranji Trophy and called for a stricter system from BCCI so that every person plays domestic cricket.
“If you are talking about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, playing Ranji Trophy after 12 years, how is that right? It does not look good at all. It’s not because they did not perform. Whether they score runs or not, you have to score runs in domestic cricket,” Kapil said while speaking on the YouTube show Cricket Adda.
“So yes, certain strong measures have to be taken. But my point is, had we won or had Rohit or Kohli scored runs, would they have played Ranji Trophy? Don’t look at the performances, make the system strong. Whether you score zero or lakhs of runs, play cricket by staying within the system,” Kapil said.
In the wake of the series defeat in Australia, BCCI put forward several rules which included a mandate that families will only be able to stay for a while and not for the entire duration of long tours.
