Former Indian wicketkeeper Kirti Azad supports the Board of Control in India (BCCI)’s latest directive, which requires players to actively engage in domestic competitions when not representing the national team.
This move resulted in the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the BCCI annual contracts due to their absence from the ongoing Ranji Trophy matches.
In a conversation with PTI, Azad expressed the belief that the rule should be applicable to all players, including top cricketers like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
“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. 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,” said Azad .
“That (state) gave you the opportunity to be a player, get selected and then play for the country. Just to penalise the two (Iyer and Kishan) is not correct, I think everybody should be penalised. Everybody should be seen with the same mirror,” he added.
Kohli has participated in just one Ranji game (in 2021) since his Test debut, and Rohit has not played for his state in the red-ball format since 2015. Despite Kishan being in India’s squad for the South African tour in December last year, Shreyas played in the second Test of the ongoing series against England.
“My query is, are they actively participating in sufficient domestic cricket?”- Kirti Azad
When inquired about the chances of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan making a comeback to the Indian team, Kirti Azad responded by raising doubts about their involvement in domestic cricket. The 1983 World Cup winner emphasized how past players placed great importance on representing their home states.
“My question is, are they playing enough domestic cricket? They are playing T20 cricket, nowadays and every other state has a T20 cricket league.”
“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,” said Kirti.
“All these senior Test team players would play for their sides, would play for the pride of their state which seems missing in the youngsters nowadays. Look at county cricket; there are 20-plus counties and there are numerous three-day and four-day games along with T20 cricket, but every player is involved there.”
“If a player is left out of the Test squad, then he returns to play for his county. So why can’t we have our players playing those domestic matches, that’s the big question,” he added.
Kirti also commended the newcomers Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan for participating in the Ranji Trophy despite being involved in T20 cricket. Both players recently earned their national debut in the third Test of the ongoing series against England.
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