Following India’s poor performances in the Test arena as of late, with an unfortunate home series defeat after 12 years to New Zealand last year and a conceding 3-1 defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy away from home, the debate whether Indian stars should play more domestic cricket or stick to just international cricket owing to heavy workload has picked up. Many experts and ex-cricketers have raised their voices in favour of India’s superstars playing more domestic cricket for their state teams and giving back to their states and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has even come up with a new 10-point player policy, which makes domestic cricket compulsory.
BCCI on Thursday released new policies for Team India, making it “mandatory” to participate in domestic matches to remain “eligible” for selection in the national team and for the central contracts.
In the policy, BCCI stated that taking part in domestic cricket will remain connected to the cricket ecosystem. The statement added that any exceptions to taking part in domestic cricket will be considered only under extraordinary circumstances.
“Participation in Domestic Matches is mandatory for players to remain eligible for selection in the national team and for central contracts, as per BCCI guidelines. This policy ensures that players remain connected to the domestic cricket ecosystem, fostering talent development, maintaining match fitness, and strengthening the overall domestic structure. It also inspires emerging players by providing them opportunities to compete alongside top cricketers, ensuring continuity in talent progression. Any exceptions to this mandate will be considered only under extraordinary circumstances and will require formal notification and approval from the Chairman of the Selection Committee, ensuring fairness and transparency in the process,” BCCI said in a statement.
In recent days, young stars Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and even Yashasvi Jaiswal are among the ones who have reportedly confirmed their participation in upcoming Ranji Trophy matches, with the status of star seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli still unknown.
Let us look at last Ranji appearances for all Indian Test stars:
Rohit Sharma: His last Ranji appearance for Mumbai came in November 2015 during which he scored 113 in 140 balls against Uttar Pradesh. The match was drawn. Shreyas Iyer also starred with a brilliant 137 and Shardul Thakur made 56 runs. India’s current assistant coach Abhishek Nayar also delivered an all-round show with 42 runs and four wickets.
Yashasvi Jaiswal: He represented Mumbai in January 2023 before his Test debut against West Indies later that year, managing scores of 0 and 14 against Maharashtra. The match ended in a draw, as per Wisden.
Shubman Gill: The lanky right hander’s last Ranji appearance for Punjab back in January 2022 yielded poor scores of 9 and 19 against Madhya Pradesh in quarerfinals.
Virat Kohli: The 36-year-old’s last appearance in Ranji was back in November 2012 against Uttar Pradesh, in which he was dismissed for 14 and 42 runs in both innings by pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. In 155 first-class matches, Virat has scored 11,479 runs at an average of 48.23, with 37 centuries and 39 fifties in 258 innings, with the best score of 254*.
KL Rahul: India’s all-format, versatile right-handed wicketkeeper-batter made his last Ranji appearance in 2020 March for Karnataka against Bengal, scoring 26 and 0 during the semifinal, which his team lost.
Rishabh Pant: He was the Delhi skipper when he led his side to the Ranji finals in 2017-18 season against Vidarbha and made just 21 and 32 in the title clash as Vidarbha won the title under Faiz Fasal’s captaincy. In seven matches in the tournament back then, Pant scored 315 runs in nine innings at an average of 35.00, with a solitary half-century and best score of 99.
Dhruv Jurel: His last Ranji appearance came in January 2024 against Kerala, in which he played a fine knock of 63. In the same year, he made his Test debut during the home Test series against England. The match ended in a draw.
Sarfaraz Khan: The domestic cricket run machine’s last Ranji appearance came in January 2024 and made just one run before being dismissed by Sakibul Gani of Bihar. Mumbai won the match by an inning.
Washington Sundar: His last Ranji appearance came during the 2024-25 last year, in which he scored 152 in 269 balls against Delhi and took six wickets in October. The match ended in a draw and he was handed an Indian comeback by coach Gautam Gambhir during the home series against New Zealand.
Ravindra Jadeja: Jadeja made a Ranji appearance in January 2023 for Saurashtra against Tamil Nadu, taking eight wickets in the match, with 7/48 in the second innings. He also scored 40 runs in the match, including 25 in the second innings and Saurashtra lost the match by 59 runs.
Nitish Kumar Reddy: The young all-rounder made an appearance for Andhra Pradesh against Gujarat in October 2024, scoring 47 and 34 with the bat and taking one wicket in 13 overs. Gujarat won the match by one wicket.
Akash Deep: His last Ranji appearance was a poor one as he could take just one wicket in only one inning he bowled and scored just five runs in two innings.
Jasprit Bumrah: The pace spearhead’s workload is highly crucial to the team’s success and he last played for his state side of Gujarat in 2017 January, taking seven wickets in total including a six-wicket haul in the second innings. This was the semifinal against Jharkhand which his team won and reached the final. Bumrah got the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
Prasidh Krishna: The lanky pacer last played Ranji in October 2024, bowling just eight overs and getting wicket of Madhya Pradesh’s Himanshu Mantri.
Harshit Rana: Harshit’s last appearance in Ranji came against Assam in October 2024, where he took a five-wicket haul followed by a fifty for Delhi, which included four boundaries and three sixes. In the second innings, he took two more wickets and was given an Indian call-up, making his Test debut during historic win at Perth. Delhi won the match by 10 wickets.
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