Mumbai
Indian cricket team’s Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma has confirmed to play in the Ranji Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir from January 23 at the MCA-BKC ground in Mumbai. “Yes, I will play,” Rohit said in response to a question at the press conference before announcing the squad for the Champions Trophy and England ODI series.
Earlier this week, Rohit had joined the team’s training session at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, after which there were speculations that he could play in the Ranji Trophy. BCCI has instructed international players to play domestic cricket, due to which this speculation started.
However, Rohit also clarified that players rarely get time to play domestic cricket due to the busy international calendar. He said, “If you look at our calendar, it has never happened that we have been sitting at home for 45 days while cricket is going on. You get that time only after the IPL is over and then nothing happens.”
Rohit said that India’s domestic season starts in October or September and ends in February or March. This is the time when the Indian team plays a lot of cricket. “So players who are not playing certain formats and have time, they can play domestic cricket,” he said.
Let us tell you that Rohit last played Ranji Trophy in 2015. Recently, questions have been raised over his place in the team after his test form declined during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia. Meanwhile, chief selector Ajit Agarkar also favored that all players should play domestic cricket whenever they are available.
Agarkar said, “It is not an order, but if you are playing all three formats then it can be difficult. But the players who are available and fit, we expect them to play.”
