Jaded Indian Batting Lineup Seeks Revival in Domestic Cricket
Jaded Indian Batting Lineup Seeks Revival in Domestic Cricket
The Ranji Trophy has received an unexpected boost, with several high-profile Indian batters returning to domestic cricket to regain their form after a dismal performance in Test matches over the past three months.
Rohit Sharma and his team are still reeling from a 3-0 series defeat at home to New Zealand, followed by a 3-1 loss in Australia, which ended their ten-year dominance of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
These setbacks also dashed their hopes of reaching a third consecutive World Test Championship final. India decided to drop their struggling captain Rohit for the final Test in Australia after he underperformed both as an opener, his typical position, and in the middle order.
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Rohit, who has dismissed the idea of retiring from Test cricket despite managing just one fifty in his last 15 innings in the format, practised with the Mumbai squad at Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday ahead of the second stage of the Ranji Trophy starting on January 23.
At 37 years old, he is expected to participate in at least one of Mumbai’s last two Group A matches, almost a decade after his previous appearance in the nation’s top domestic first-class tournament.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit’s opening partner, who scored the most runs for India in the five-Test series in Australia, has also made himself available for Mumbai’s home game against Jammu and Kashmir next week.
Shubman Gill, who managed only 93 runs across five innings in Australia, will play in Punjab’s upcoming match against Karnataka in Bengaluru. Rishabh Pant, whose aggressive style sometimes veered into recklessness during the Australia series, will compete in Delhi’s next game against Saurashtra. The dynamic stumper-batter hasn’t participated in a Ranji Trophy match since the 2017-18 season.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli returned from Australia with a tarnished reputation, scoring 190 runs in nine innings, including an unbeaten century in the first match of the series in Perth.
Kohli has not yet confirmed his return to the tournament he last played in 2012, despite the Indian board encouraging players to rejoin domestic cricket to recover their form. India’s next Test challenge is a five-match series in England starting June 20.
Source: Reuters
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