BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has opined on whether he sees India Test team veterans Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara coming back to Ranji Trophy in order to regain their lost form which has put their spot in the Indian XI under lots of speculation.
Both Rahane and Pujara have been facing criticism for their lack of runs and for being given such a long rope by the BCCI selectors and the Indian team management. Rahane has scored just one Test century since 2020 and Pujara’s last Test ton came in Sydney Test in 2019.
The selection committee backed the duo, despite their poor showing against Australia, England, and New Zealand both at home and away last year, for the South Africa tour in January this year.
However, both managed just one fifty each in the three-Test series, and calls for their removal from the XI became louder, especially with youngsters like Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hanuma Vihari doing well.
Ganguly, in an interview with Sportstar, spoke on whether Rahane and Pujara can come back to Ranji Trophy and try to regain their form back.
Rahane not part of my plans if I was a selector; Pujara still has something left in him- Manjrekar
Ganguly opined: “Yeah, they are very good players. Hopefully, they will go back to Ranji Trophy and score a lot of runs, which I am sure they will. I don’t see any problem [for them to go back to domestic cricket after playing so much international cricket]. Ranji Trophy is a huge tournament, and we have all played the tournament. So, they, too, will go back there and perform.
They have played the tournament in the past when they were only playing Test cricket and were not part of the ODI or limited-overs team. So, that won’t be a problem.”
He was also asked about how the NCA will be improved with him at the helm at the BCCI, Rahul Dravid as India head coach, and VVS Laxman taking over as the head of the National Cricket Academy.
He said: “We have put everything in place. Laxman and Rahul work together. There are coaches who work alongside them. The U-19 coaches, too, work with the NCA and some of them are currently with the team in the World Cup. The new NCA facility is being built, the construction will start probably this month. It will take 18 months to finish. Everything has been put in place.”
Ganguly also confirmed that Bengaluru will host a pink-ball, day-night Test match against Sri Lanka.
“Yes, the pink-ball Test will be happening in Bengaluru. We have not decided on all the venues for the Sri Lanka series yet, but it will be announced shortly,” the BCCI President said.
Ganguly also spoke on the Indian team becoming the first nation to play 1000 ODIs when they take the field against the West Indies in the first ODI of the three-match series scheduled on February 6.
“I was the captain of India in the 500th ODI (against England at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street on July 4, 2002). It is a big moment for Indian cricket, but unfortunately, the match will be played without a crowd. The series, too, will be played in empty stadiums. It could have been done in a much better way had there been no COVID-19, but you cannot help it. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we can’t really plan anything for this iconic fixture,” Ganguly added.
(Sportstar inputs)
