The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly unhappy with certain players skipping the ongoing season of the Ranji Trophy and instead, preparing for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Ranji Trophy 2023-24 began on January 5 this year and the final is slated to take place on March 10 to 14, just a couple of weeks before the beginning of IPL 2024. While senior Indian cricketers including the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and few others are grinding hard in domestic, some opted out of the tournament.
The notable exclusion from Ranji Trophy is Ishan Kishan, who has been out of action since December. The wicketkeeper-batter should play domestic cricket in order to make comeback to national side after withdraw from Test series against South Africa due to mental wellbeing.
Kishan is not part of Jharkhand team in the ongoing match against Ranji Trophy in Jamshedpur. Instead, he began preparing for IPL with Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal at Kiran More Academy in Baroda.
BCCI to ask certain players to play Ranji Trophy
As per the report by Times of India, BCCI is disappointed with certain players who are on IPL mode and skipping Ranji Trophy. The report added that board will communicate every player to play for their respective state teams in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.
"In the next few days, all the players will be communicated by the BCCI to play for their state team in the Ranji Trophy, as long as they are not on national duty, with only those who are unfit and recovering at the NCA being granted an exemption. The Board isn't too happy with certain players already in IPL mode from January." BCCI official said.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer was reportedly dropped from the ongoing Test series against England due to poor form, contrary to earlier report of stiff back and groin pain.
"If Shreyas was to be rested because of injury, the BCCI medical bulletin would have had an update. Since there are no updates, it can be concluded that he has got the axe." a BCCI source told to PTI.
It is likely that Shreyas Iyer will be informed by BCCI to play the ongoing season of Ranji Trophy for Mumbai in order to regain his form and make a comeback to national side. Iyer played the only Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai against Andhra Pradesh in January after reportedly being reprimanded by BCCI.
KS Bharat to be dropped from playing XI for Rajkot Test
As per the report, wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat is likely to be dropped from the playing XI for Rajkot Test. Bharat hasn't produced impactful produce an impactful performance in the ongoing Test series against England.
In initial two Tests, Andhra Pradesh cricketer has scored just 92 runs at an average of 23 across four innings. Also, KS Bharat is yet to score a Test fifty since his debut in whites in February 2023.
It has been reported that young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel will be picked in the team, replacing KS Bharat for the third Test in Rajkot. Jurel was added to India Test squad after Ishan Kishan didn't inform BCCI about his unavailability for the Test series against England.
