Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has criticised the lack of importance given to the Ranji Trophy, India’s red-ball tournament, with players participating in “meaningless” events instead.
The Ranji Trophy began on October 11, with the second round of the tournament ending today (October 21). However, with the India-New Zealand Test series as well as the Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup also currently being played, several players are not available for selection for the Ranji Trophy.
This has led to Gavaskar questioning the importance given to the Ranji Trophy, with the former opener saying India does not consider the competition sacred enough, with needless matches being prioritised instead.
He wrote in his Sportstar column: “Even as India plays the current series against New Zealand, some of our players are competing in the Emerging Players Asia Cup. The Ranji Trophy season has begun, and if players are being taken away to play in events like this, then the national tournament is being greatly devalued.”
In November, following the end of the Test series, India will travel to South Africa for a four-match T20I series. The India A team will also travel to Australia for a series. Following this, India A will reportedly take on the senior India side ahead of the latter’s five-match Test series in their only warm-up game ahead of the tour. With India A having arrived earlier in the country, they will be better acclimated to the conditions, thus giving the Indian team a fair fight.
Gavaskar, however, dismissed the series, saying India are taking the Ranji Trophy lightly. “Next month, there’s a needless four-match T20 series in South Africa before the tour to Australia. There will also be an ‘A’ team touring Australia next month, so effectively about 50 to 60 players will not be available for their State teams in the premier national tournament, the Ranji Trophy. No other major country treats its national tournament as cavalierly as India does.
“Have you ever seen England or Australia hold ‘A’ tours or participate in meaningless events during their domestic seasons? Their domestic seasons are sacrosanct.
“Hopefully, this will change from the next season — or is that hoping for too much?”
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
