Former India cricketers Irfan Pathan and Sunil Gavaskar expressed their concerns, while head coach Gautam Gambhir dropped a subtle message in his Sydney press conference. And now, another member of the Indian team management backed the solution of going back to domestic cricket to find the rhythm amid concerns on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s form.
Kohli scored just 90 more runs barring the century in Perth as he recorded his worst tour of Australia, which subsequently saw him averaging just over 30 since 2022. Rohit, on the other hand, scored just 31 runs in five innings as a woeful average of 6.2, and overall scored 164 runs in his last eight Tests since September, which comprised just one fifty.
Following the poor run of form, experts and coach Gambhir urged the two senior batters play in the domestic cricket, with the second half of the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy season slated to begin on January 23.
Amid the calls, a member of the team management, in conversation with The Indian Express, admitted that, “while playing domestic cricket cannot fix all the flaws, it can certainly help Test players get into the rhythm needed to play the longest format.”
The Indian team member further sparked a fear saying that Kohli, Rohit and those who struggled during the Australia tour – all their red-ball game will stagnate, especially with India not playing another Test match till June 23, when the fresh World Test Championship cycle will kick off.
“Without game time in the middle, their game will stagnate… The switch from the red ball to the white ball is easy, but when it is the other way round, it is challenging. When you play Ranji games frequently, you will be in rhythm,” said the source.
When Kohli, Rohit last play in Ranji Trophy?
The last time Kohli featured in a Ranji Trophy game was back in 2012, the year after his made his Test debut. Notably, former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar last featured in the tournament in 2013, the year he retired from international cricket. This was a key point highlighted by Pathan in his on-air rant after the Sydney Test on the lack of commitment from modern-day India cricketers to show preference towards domestic cricket.
Rohit, on the other hand, has not played the domestic tournament for nine years now. Moreover, in the last four years, neither of the key India Test players in Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj and K L Rahul featured in the Ranji Trophy.
