Rohit, Virat should play domestic cricket when free: Former India WC winner backs BCCI after Shreyas, Ishan’s contract axe

Former India World Cup-winning team cricketer, Kriti Azad appreciated BCCI’s directive for players to play domestic cricket. He backed the BCCI’s decision to drop Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the annual contract after failing to play in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective state teams.

Highlighting the importance of domestic red-ball cricket, Azad stated that senior cricket players including captain Rohit Sharna and star batter Virat Kohli should also play first-call cricket whenever they are free.

Shreyas Iyer was under Grade B (Rs 3 crore) contract while Ishan Kishan was listed in Grade C (Rs 1 crore) for the last season.

Iyer informed the MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) that he is suffering back spasms, however, the NCA head of sports science, Nitin Patel, revealed that Iyer has no new injury concerns. Even though Iyer made himself available for the Ranji Trophy semifinal vs Tamilnadu, the damage was already done.

“It (directive) a very good move. Everybody should be playing Ranji Trophy cricket, but currently the emphasis is on the IPL. It is good, it is entertaining but the real cricket is the (five) days cricket. Playing in domestic cricket is good, it keeps you in touch,” Azad said.

“Whenever you are free, even if you’re a Rohit Sharma or a Virat Kohli, you should go back and play domestic cricket for the state. That (state) gave you the opportunity to be a player, get selected and then play for the country. Just to penalise the two is not correct, I think everybody should be penalised. Everybody should be seen with the same mirror,” Azad added.

He went on to say that players like Sunil Gavaskar and Bishan Singh Bedi played domestic cricket with youngsters like him and Ravi Shastri during their playing day, insisting that the pride for playing for one’s state is missing in youngsters. Azad played 142 first-class matches in his career, scoring 6,634 runs at an average of 39.48.

“Back in the days when we were starting our careers, players like Bishan Singh Bedi, Madan Lal, Surinder Amarnath, Mohinder Amarnath, Chetan Chauhan, Sunil Gavaskar, Sandeep Patil, Karsan Ghavri played alongside youngsters like me and Ravi Shastri. All these senior Test team players would play for their sides, would play for the pride of their state which seems missing in the youngsters nowadays,” said Azad.

While Kohli has been ruled out of India’s Test series against England due to personal reasons, Rohit will be leading the team in the fifth and final match of the series at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on March 7.