Former India selector Sunil Joshi felt that critics should stop blaming the BCCI or the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee, and rather reckoned that it was Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s responsibility to take as he launched another attack on the two senior batters over ignoring domestic cricket. The criticism came in the wake of their poor batting performances against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
The former India captain managed just 93 runs against New Zealand, where his average of 15.50 was the lowest in a home series in the last seven years and second-worst overall. Meanwhile, for Rohit, he incurred back-to-back poor shows. Against Bangladesh, he amassed only 42 runs in two games, his second-worst show in a contest at home and worst in nine years, while 91 runs came against New Zealand at 15.16 (fourth on the list).
Amid the poor numbers which also left the career at stake, with many claiming that the impending tour of Australia could be a make-or-break series for the two, questions were raised on why they skipped the Duleep Trophy tournament in September where most India regulars, after being summoned by the BCCI, featured as part of the preparation for the long Test calendar ahead.
Joshi, speaking to Times of India, reckoned that selectors should not be held responsible for the act, but rather the players themselves should be blamed for not raising their hand and agreeing to be part of the domestic tournament.
“Let’s not put everything on the BCCI. It’s individual responsibility as well. That’s what I want to stress more on. You know that you are going to play three Test matches, it’s going to be on turners, or it’s going to be on slow wickets. So from white-ball format, (there’s need to) go back to Ranji Trophy and play (in order to get match-ready for the red-ball international season). For everything, the blame can’t be put on the BCCI. The players’ responsibility is also there. Players need to take initiative, and should say, ‘Boss, I will go and play Ranji Trophy, I will go and play Duleep Trophy,” he said.
‘Nobody is bigger than the game’
The former India cricketer felt that Ranji Trophy cricket should once again be prioritised if India want to remain the top-ranked team in Test cricket.
“If XYZ or our top players do not get runs against spin bowling, what is the way to (improve)? They need to go back and play spin. So why can’t they go back and play domestic cricket? All these players have played Ranji Trophy and then only went on to play Test cricket…It’s not a hard and fast rule; but I think given the circumstances and given the scenarios of WTC, our top players, top six for that matter, should have played one or two (domestic) games prior to the Test series…Nobody is bigger than the game. Everyone faces ups and downs in their career,” he added.
