'Hope this becomes a habit': Sunil Gavaskar on India players appearing in Ranji Trophy

Stars like Kohli, Rohit, Pant, Rahul and others played for their domestic sides in Ranji Trophy.

Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played Ranji Trophy | PTI

Legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar expressed confidence that this initiative will be more than just a box-ticking exercise, given that most Test squad players play for their state teams in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal, and Kuldeep Yadav have all represented their respective states since the second leg of the Ranji Trophy began on January 23.

The India team players may have participated in the Ranji Trophy simply to tick the box of 'must dos' that the BCCI had insisted on and by doing that they brought new energy to the National Championship.

Even though they may not have made a successful return to the tournament, their very presence would have enthused their teammates and their opponents. Meeting and spending time with them would give the teammates so much to learn from them as to how to be successful in their careers.

Imagine the lift-off for the players who got the wickets of Jaiswal, Sharma, Kohli, and Rahul. They will be raring to go at other batters knowing that they have got the wickets of India's top order," wrote Gavaskar in his column for Mid-day on Sunday.

After the Test series losses to New Zealand at home and to Australia down under, the BCCI declared it necessary for India's finest Test players to play domestic cricket whenever possible, prompting their return to the prestigious local league.

"Hopefully for the India stars too meeting the guys with whom they started their Ranji Trophy careers will have rekindled the great memories of the camaraderie and the struggle to climb the ladder to the top.

The India stars may not have had great individual success in the Ranji games that they played last week, but by turning up they have boosted the Ranji Trophy to the level that the National Championship deserves and for that, they deserve all the accolades. Let's hope this becomes a habit and not just a box-ticking exercise," added Gavaskar.

Return of stars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also meant that many people watched matches in the stadium. More than 20,000 people came to Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi to watch Virat Kohli play for Delhi.

"Elsewhere it was wonderful to see the number of youngsters who came to watch the Ranji Trophy match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Sure, they came to watch Virat Kohli and that's what star power is about.

Even if a fraction of those who came out to watch get inspired by the frenzy that was seen and go on to do something exceptional in their careers that would be the cherry on top. Earlier in the week Rohit Sharma's participation in Mumbai's Ranji Trophy game also was good to see.

Mumbai being a working city there weren't as many who could spare the time to watch the game. In any case, if they were Mumbai supporters then it was a good thing they didn't go to the game as Jammu and Kashmir beat the defending champions comprehensively and that's never an easy thing to see for a Mumbai supporter," concluded Gavaskar.

The India stars will be seen in Blue colors as they take on England in a series of three ODIs starting February 6.

(mid-day inputs)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 03 Feb, 2025

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