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Former India player Manoj Tiwary, who called time on his cricket career last month, backed the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for its domestic cricket mandate. While announcing the central contracts for the 2023-24 season, the board reiterated that players who are fit and not on national duty should play domestic cricket for their respective teams. Tiwary said that this is the only way to save tournaments like Ranji Trophy. He also explained how lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) contracts impact players’ performance and objectives during domestic matches.
“I have seen youngsters and established players speak only about IPL during domestic matches. Even in the zonal matches, when I used to play, their discussions are entirely based on IPL,” said Tiwary on Sports Now.
“It is pretty natural once IPL contracts are given before the Ranji, it does affect someone – when you get 5 cr or 7 cr, players start thinking in their subconsciousness,” he added.
The cricket veteran also revealed how players fake their injuries at time to be fit for IPL.
“So when a Ranji match comes, they try to avoid the last bit of effort required to dive and save a boundary that might have been crucial for the domestic team. Then they try to find a reason, maybe a niggle. Earlier, what used to happen? Players turned up for their sides even while carrying an injury, but now they are trying to sit out the game and avoid the next couple of games. So these things are happening,” Tiwary said.
Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, both of who were fit and not playing for India before the contracts announcement, skipped their respective domestic matches and bore the brunt of BCCI’s ire. The two players were snubbed from the player retention list for the season 2023-24.
BCCI’s latest mandate has received a lot of praise worldwide, however, many former cricketers and experts have also said that the rule should be equal to all.
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