The latest season of the Ranji Trophy could be the perfect stage for Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to get back in form, that's according to former India captain Sourav Ganguly. The president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given his backing and wishes to the duo, who have recently struggled for form.
“Yeah, they are very good players. Hopefully, they will go back to Ranji Trophy and score a lot of runs, which I am sure they will. I don’t see any problem [for them to go back to domestic cricket after playing so much international cricket]. Ranji Trophy is a huge tournament, and we have all played the tournament,” Ganguly told Sportstar.
The struggles were so embarrassing that Rahane, who had an impressive record as a stand-in skipper was asked to step down, while Pujara is also considered to be counting his last few days with the team if performances don't improve. Ganguly though has pledged his support to the duo and has urged them to take full advantage of the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.
“So, they, too, will go back there and perform. They have played the tournament in the past when they were only playing Test cricket and were not part of the ODI or limited-overs team. So, that won’t be a problem,” the BCCI president added.
Rahane, 33, has endured a tough time in the recent period as he has gone 28 innings without a hundred while the numbers get even worse for Pujara who has gone a staggering 48 innings without a ton. The duo's recent performances have been far from impressive as they struggled for form in the South African tour while they were no way near their regular standards in the New Zealand series.
The latest season of the Ranji Trophy will start on February 10 with Rahane will applying his trade for record 41-time champions Mumbai, while Pujara will don the jerseys of defending champions Saurashtra. The latest season will see the group stage take place before the Indian Premier League (IPL) while the knock-out stage will take place after the mega-money league's conclusion in May.
