New Delhi: After watching most of the Test team batters get dismissed cheaply on their return to Ranji Trophy duty for Mumbai, Sunil Gavaskar has wondered whether they were willing to play domestic cricket or are forced to do so to save their Board of Control for Cricket in India’s contract.
The BCCI had made it mandatory for all national team players to report to their respective state teams for Ranji Trophy duty after a disastrous Australia series, having stripped Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan of their central contracts for failing to do so earlier.
India’s ODI and Test skipper Rohit Sharma managed only 3 and 28 runs in two innings for Mumbai against Jammu and Kashmir as he was dismissed while attempting aggressive shots. His opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, Iyer and even out of favour Ajinkya Rahane were dismissed early.
“The dismissal of Mumbai’s Test batters once again brought to the fore the perils of the all-out aggressive mode of batting that is nowadays thought of as being central to run-making. It can work on flat pitches, but on pitches where the ball is doing something, there has to be a technique good enough to keep out the good delivery,” Gavaskar said in his Sportstar column.
“The BCCI and the coach’s insistence on the Indian players playing in the Ranji Trophy meant that most of the players who were on the disastrous tour of Australia turned up for their state teams in the Ranji Trophy.
“Whether their hearts were in it or they did that only to ensure they were not stripped of their BCCI contracts, like Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were, after missing out on the on the Ranji Trophy games last year, is known only to them.”
Thakur shines
Another out of favour player Shardul Thakur scored a ton to make the most of the opportunity though Mumbai lost the game. Rohit and Jaiswal’s inclusion in the team forced Ayush Mhatre to sit out despite scoring a game in their last game.
Gavaskar hoped that the talented youngster has shown willingness to learn seeing Rohit operate from close quarters.
“Only Shardul Thakur, batting down the order, showed the gumption and desire to stick it out. But for his batting in both innings, the Mumbai score would have been embarrassing for a side filled with four Indian Test players in their top five,” the former India skipper said.
“What Thakur and Tanush Kotian showed with their big partnership is that with a proper mix of caution and aggression, runs could be scored on the surface. The J&K batters also showed the same attitude and thus overhauled the target quite comfortably.
“Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s participation meant that Ayush Mhatre, who had got a couple of hundreds and some fifties, had to be left out of the Mumbai side. Hopefully, the youngster would have spent some time with both these players and picked their brains about adding to his batting ability.”
India’s ODI and Test skipper Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer all failed to fire with the bat in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy loss to Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
