Rohit, Jaiswal, Kohli, Pant, Rahul and Iyer have all played atleast one Ranji Trophy match recently.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra has opined on several Indian team players playing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 matches for their respective teams. This came after BCCI mandated that all centrally contracted players should play domestic cricket in their free time.
KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja are now playing for Karnataka and Saurashtra, while India skipper Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shreyas Iyer all appeared for Mumbai in the last round of matches.
Virat Kohli's comeback to the Ranji Trophy has already become something of a watershed occasion, with a record crowd at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra, on the other hand, believes Kohli and other Test regulars appear to be taking the local first-class championship as a priority.
"Virat Kohli has become ready to play the game in Delhi at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. He was practicing with Sanjay Bangar earlier in Alibaug. He was trying to solve his back-foot and outside-off problems. So he has tried and now he is back at the Ranji Trophy level," said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
However, among the international regulars, only Jadeja will play both of Saurashtra's Ranji Trophy matches this season.
Kohli and Rahul missed the first round of matches for Delhi and Karnataka due to niggles, while Rohit, Jaiswal, and Iyer are all missing Mumbai's current match against Meghalaya.
"Shreyas, Rohit Yashasvi have all given it (Mumbai's must-win match against Meghalaya) a miss. Ultimately, everyone has done the token job.
Virat had not played (in the first match of the current round of the Ranji Trophy), so he is playing this match. Everyone else has marked their attendance. What does it tell you? Well, what it tells me is that it is looking like a punishment posting. But first-class cricket is not a punishment. The fact is that it is a privilege for others that they are getting to play with you and it is a chance for you to find form," Chopra added.
BCCI mandated domestic cricket forIndiana players after Team India was embarrassed 0-3 at home by New Zealand in Tests and then lost the BGT 2024-25 series to Australia 1-3. This caused India to fail to qualify for their third WTC final as well.