Batting great Sachin Tendulkar stressed on the importance of participating in the Ranji Trophy in an indirect message to Indian players who were skipping domestic cricket, stating it offers national team players a chance to return to the fundamentals and simultaneously enhances the profile of the domestic competition. The BCCI has mandated that its centrally contracted players engage in domestic red-ball cricket whenever they are not on international assignments or involved with the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were dropped from the BCCI's central contract roster due to their absence from their state teams' matches in the Ranji Trophy.
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Tendulkar wants Indian players to focus on domestic cricket
"When India players turn up for their domestic teams, it raises the quality of play for youngsters and sometimes new talent is identified. It also gives the national players a chance to sometimes rediscover the basics," Tendulkar posted on X.
"Throughout my career, I remained passionate about playing for Mumbai whenever I had the opportunity. Growing up, we had almost 7-8 Indian players in our dressing room, and it was fun to play alongside them," Tendulkar's post further read.
Kishan-Shreyas out of BCCI's central contract
The 25-year-old Kishan, who had taken a break from the national team's tour of South Africa in December citing mental fatigue, did not participate in any of Jharkhand's Ranji Trophy matches throughout the season. Instead, he focused on his preparations for the IPL with the Mumbai Indians. On the other hand, Iyer was unavailable for Mumbai's Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Baroda following his exclusion from the Indian squad during the second Test against England. Nevertheless, he did make an appearance in Mumbai's Ranji semifinal game against Tamil Nadu.
"With top notch players participating in domestic tournaments, over a period of time, fans will also start following and supporting their domestic teams much more. Wonderful to see @BCCI give equal priority to domestic cricket."
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Mumbai secured their spot in the 48th Ranji Trophy final, where the 41-time winners will compete against either Vidarbha or Madhya Pradesh. These two teams are currently engaged in an intense semifinal battle, with the winners advancing to the title clash.
Mumbai's Ranji Trophy semifinal win thrills Tendulkar
"The Ranji Trophy semi-finals have been riveting! @MumbaiCricAssoc's march into the finals was aided by a brilliant batting recovery, while the other semi-final hangs in the balance going into the last day - Madhya Pradesh need 90+ runs to win, Vidarbha need 4 wickets," Tendulkar concluded.
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