“Simply to tick…” - Sunil Gavaskar opens up on Indian cricketers playing Ranji Trophy

After India’s 1-3 loss in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, BCCI called for all Test players to participate in the country’s premier red-ball tournament Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season.

Notably, in the second leg of the Ranji Trophy that started on January 23, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and KL Rahul marked their participation.

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has now opened up on the star players’ participation in the most prestigious Indian domestic tournament. 

“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,” Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid Day.

“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,” he added.

“Imagine the lift off for the players who got the wickets of Jaiswal, Sharma, Kohli, Rahul. They will be raring to go at other batters knowing that they have got the wickets of India's top order,” he stated.

Virat Kohli’s return to Ranji Trophy after a gap of 12 years at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi witnessed more than 15,000 people coming to watch the star Indian batter bat. However, Kohli managed to score only six runs in 15 balls before being bowled to Railways bowler Himanshu Sangwan.

Interestingly, Rohit Sharma also failed to live up to the expectations against Jammu and Kashmir. He could score only 31 runs (3 and 28) in two innings. J&K went on to script a five-wicket win over Mumbai in that particular encounter.

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