Led by Rohit Sharma, India have already clinched the Test series against England by winning three games out of five. The fifth and final Test between India and England starts on March 7.
Dharamsala: India captain Rohit Sharma urged the younger players in the team to play domestic cricket when not on national duty unless they have fitness issues. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been asking the players to prioritize domestic cricket and went to the extent of excluding 2023 ODI World Cuppers Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from Central Contracts after they ignored the board’s diktat on Ranji Trophy.
Rohit made it clear that the move applies to all and not a few players. “There has been talk about this for a long, long time. That when the players are available, they’ve got to make themselves available to play domestic cricket, unless they have been given a certificate from the medical group that they want to be rested or will not be taking part in domestic cricket, but if you are available, if you are fit, if you’re fine, it is important that we go and play that,” said Rohit.
“It is not for just few cricketers, it is for everyone to make sure that whenever you’re available, and fine, you should be able to play domestic cricket.” Although Rohit was busy enjoying the pre-wedding festivities of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, the Indian skipper found time to track Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy semifinal ahead of the fifth Test against England.
“You saw the Ranji trophy that was played this week. I watched Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, obviously there was a very interesting game happening today as well, I think Vidarbha won (they did on Wednesday). When games like that happen, you see the quality and everything coming into display for everyone to watch. It is important that we give importance to domestic cricket, which is the core of Indian cricket,” said the skipper.
Earlier, Rohit, after guiding his team to win in the fourth Test in Ranchi, flew to Jamnagar in Gujarat to attend Anant-Radhika’s pre-wedding ceremony. He was joined by several former and present cricketers at the event which took place from March 1 to 3. Post that, Rohit was seen at an event in Bilaspur with head coach Rahul Dravid and Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur.