Rohit set to play Mumbai’s next Ranji game; says ‘nobody takes domestic cricket for granted’

Rohit, who endured a horror run with the bat in the national team's tour of Australia recently, trained with the Mumbai squad at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday ahead of the second phase of the Ranji Trophy

Mumbai: India captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday confirmed his availability for Mumbai’s next Ranji Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir while also stressing on the need to take time off from a busy calendar amid the clamour for star players’ participation in domestic cricket.

Rohit also said that no player takes premier domestic red-ball tournament “for granted”. Mumbai will play Jammu and Kashmir at the MCA-BKC Ground when the Ranji Trophy resumes on January 23. Asked about his availability for the game during a press conference at the BCCI headquarters here, Rohit responded in the positive.

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Days after the BCCI conducted a review meeting to assess the debacle Down Under, the Board has came out with 10 guidelines for India’s centrally-contracted players, including making participation in domestic tournaments mandatory for selection in the national team.

The focus since then has been on the likes of Rohit and his longtime India teammate Virat Kohli. The India skipper said, “Last 6-7 years, if you go back and look at our calendar, there hasn’t been a time where we were sitting at home for 45 days and there is (domestic) cricket going on. You do get that time when you finish IPL and if there’s nothing happening (in domestic cricket) right after that…” Rohit said.

“But if you see our domestic season, it starts in October, maybe September, and it gets over by February-March and that is the time India plays a lot of cricket as well. So, guys who are not playing certain formats and have time, and then there is domestic cricket happening, then they will play.

“But (in) the last 6-7 years, I can at least tell about what has happened with me since I’ve started playing Test cricket regularly, which is from 2019, you hardly have any time in hand and then, when you play so much international cricket through the year, you need some time off as well as a cricketer just to refresh, get your mind right, just to be ready for the upcoming season.”

The 37-year-old, who endured a horror run with the bat in the national team’s tour of Australia recently, trained with the Mumbai squad at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday ahead of the second phase of the Ranji Trophy.

Rohit’s last Ranji appearance was in November 2015 against Uttar Pradesh. He added, “We have addressed it now and nobody takes it (domestic red-ball cricket) for granted or anything like that. It is just ben based on looking at how one has gone through the season, how much rest he needs,” he said.

“Based on all of that, we decide what is going to happen with certain players. Now it’s been made mandatory that if there is time, you have to play domestic cricket.” The past few weeks have been tumultuous for Rohit.

He managed just 31 runs across three Tests during his time Down Under and was forced to drop himself from the series-deciding fifth and final Test in Sydney due to his poor form.

Rohit handed over the leadership duties to Jasprit Bumrah in that game, sparking widespread speculations about his future. However, in an interview to the host broadcaster of the series, Rohit asserted that he was not going anywhere.