Former India cricketer Yograj Singh requested senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to feature in the domestic cricket as the duo will be out of cricketing action until the three-match ODI series against England which will start from February 4. After India's 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has come up with new directives for its players where they made it mandatory for players to feature in domestic cricket while not on national duty.
After BCCI's new rules, Yograj believes that no one is bigger than the game giving examples of the legendary stars likes of Sir Vivian Richards and Sir Don Bradman and stating that even though they were not bigger than the sport, urging senior players to participate in domestic cricket when they’re not on national duty.
“You can never become bigger than the game. Neither Viv Richards nor Don Bradman, they were never bigger than cricket and neither can anyone become. So what you do is you come back from the tours, you must start playing domestic cricket. When Test players play domestic cricket, then the rest of the youngsters playing with them get a lot of confidence,” Yograj told ANI.
Yograj also gave the example of his son Yuvraj Singh and mentioned that the all-rounder used to play domestic cricket whenever he was out of the team.
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“Whenever Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) all the time when he was not in the Indian squad, he used to go and play Ranji Trophy. When the team was not playing any tournament. So, I think this is one thing that they should come and play, all of them, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. There should be a fitness camp for the players. Nothing happens in the nets, everything happens in centre,” he added.
India ODI and Test captain will be seen featuring for Mumbai in the upcoming Ranji clash. However, Kohli who was named in the Delhi Ranji squad will miss the clash as he is currently on the road to recovery from a neck spasm that he got during the fifth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Sydney.