Former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad has advocated for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to play first-class cricket after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) came down heavily on Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer on Wednesday for skipping Ranji Trophy duties. The two batters were dropped from the BCCI annual central contracts, with the federation explicitly stating in its release that cricketers need to prioritise domestic cricket when they are not engaged in international cricket assignments.
"It (directive) is a very good move. Everybody should be playing Ranji Trophy cricket, but currently the emphasis is on the IPL. It is good, it is entertaining but the real cricket is the (five) days' cricket. Playing in domestic cricket is good, it keeps you in touch," Azad said.
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"But whenever you are free, even if you're a Rohit Sharma or a Virat Kohli, you should go back and play domestic cricket for the state. That (state) gave you the opportunity to be a player, get selected and then play for the country," he added.
Azad did not approve of the BCCI penalising Kishan and Iyer.
"Just to penalise the two is not correct, I think everybody should be penalised. Everybody should be seen with the same mirror. My question is, are they playing enough domestic cricket? They are playing T20 cricket, nowadays and every other state has a T20 cricket league," Azad said.
"Back in the days when we were starting our careers, players like Bishan Singh Bedi, Madan Lal, Surinder Amarnath, Mohinder Amarnath, Chetan Chauhan, Sunil Gavaskar, Sandeep Patil, Karsan Ghavri played alongside youngsters like me and Ravi Shastri," he added.
Azad lamented whilst suggesting that pride that comes with playing for one's state is missing from the current crop of cricketers. He, however, appreciated the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, who do play in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but have taken active interest in turning up for their states in the first-class game as well.
First Published: Feb 29, 2024 6:48 PM IST
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