There should be no excuse for not playing Ranji Trophy: Gavaskar told senior players!

Sunil Gavaskar on Sunday urged Indian batsmen to play the Ranji Trophy without any excuses to overcome the technical shortcomings that have led to the team’s two consecutive series defeats against New Zealand and Australia.

Gavaskar said the disappointing performance of the Indian batsmen at home against New Zealand and in the recently concluded series against Australia was worrying. India faced a 0-3 clean sweep against New Zealand at home while the team suffered a 1-3 defeat in Australia.

Gavaskar told ‘Star Sports’, “The next round of Ranji Trophy is on 23rd January. Let’s see how many players of this team play. There should be no excuse for not playing.” He said, “If you do not play in those matches, then Gautam Gambhir will have to take some tough decisions against those players who are not available for Ranji Trophy.”

Gavaskar said domestic cricket becomes important considering the upcoming 2025-2027 World Test Championship cycle and India should now focus more on young cricketers like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy.