Once again a big debate has erupted regarding Indian domestic cricket. Former Team India captain Sunil Gavaskar has raised questions on both the media and the cricket system regarding Ranji Trophy players. He says that players who perform brilliantly in the country’s biggest domestic tournament do not get as much recognition as those who play in the IPL or Under-19 World Cup.
When will Ranji players get recognition?
In his column, Gavaskar mentioned many batsmen who have scored more than 700 runs this season, but there has not been much discussion on their performance. These include names like Ravichandran Smaran, Sanat Sangwan, Deep Kumar Gharami, Siddhesh Lad, Armaan Jaffer and Kunal Chandela.
Apart from this, among the bowlers, Mayank Mishra and Siddharth Desai took more than 40 wickets this season, but there was not much news on their performance.
Name of fast bowler worth Rs 8.4 crore taken
Giving an example, he took the name of Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Aqib Nabi. According to Gavaskar, despite his consistent performance in the Ranji Trophy, if Delhi Capitals had not bought him for Rs 8.4 crore in the IPL auction, perhaps there would not have been so much discussion about him.
IPL becoming a shortcut to identity?
Gavaskar said that nowadays players get real recognition only when they are seen playing in the IPL. Due to TV coverage and social media, players who perform well in IPL immediately get headlines. Whereas players who score runs or take wickets in Ranji Trophy often remain missing from the news.
He also said that many people consider IPL and Under-19 World Cup as a shortcut to reach Team India, but the question is whether only the selectors are responsible for this or also the media and other platforms related to cricket which ignore the domestic players?
Thinking will have to change
Gavaskar believes that if Indian cricket is to be strengthened then equal priority will have to be given to domestic cricket. Only those players who perform well in Ranji Trophy later become the backbone of Team India at the international level.
He expressed hope that in the coming time, big matches like the Ranji Trophy final will also get more coverage, so that the players who work hard in domestic cricket can get their due. At present, his statement has become a big topic of discussion in the cricket world and a new debate has started on the importance of domestic cricket.
