"At times you've got to be smart and sacrifice certain games" - Ravi Shastri advises Virat Kohli to opt out of final ODI to compete in Ranji Trophy

Former Indian player and head coach Ravi Shastri has opined that Virat Kohli should consider opting out of the final ODI against New Zealand in order to partake in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. The ace batter has had trouble transitioning into the longest format from white-ball cricket.

Kohli evidently struggled in the two Tests against Bangladesh after coming into the series after a frenzied T20 phase in the cricketing calendar which also included the T20 World Cup 2022. The former skipper only scored 45 runs across four innings but has been in fine form in the subsequent home season.

The third ODI between India and New Zealand is scheduled to take place on January 24 at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. Delhi's final group stage contest against Hyderabad is also slated to begin on the same day at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, the venue where the first ODI against New Zealand is being held.

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Shastri strongly feels that Kohli, who is very well adept in the ODI format, can afford to skip the final ODI to play in the Ranji Trophy fixture. The former all-rounder feels that it will help him in the transition between formats ahead of the crucial Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, which begins on February 9. He said on air while commentating during the series opener between India and New Zealand:

“I've always believed you play more first-class cricket, especially when you are going to play a lot in India. Just feel top players don't play enough first-class cricket."

Shastri continued:

"There's a lot of cricket around, you might not want to take the risk. But at times you've got to be smart and sacrifice certain games looking at the bigger picture. And the big picture is Australia.”

The Pat Cummins-led side have only lost one Test in the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. They are slated to play four Tests against India, with the latter requiring a series win to qualify for the finals of the competition.

“25 years ago Sachin Tendulkar went to play in CCI against a Australian team and got a double hundred" - Ravi Shastri

Citing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar as an example of how little first-class cricket in between can spruce things up, Ravi Shastri said:

“25 years ago Sachin Tendulkar went to play in CCI against a Australian team and got a double hundred. Two months later in 1998 he had above 1000 runs against Australia in all formats."

Shastri continued:

"He got a terrific double hundred and Australia knew that they didn't get that man early the writing was on the wall."

The iconic game at CCI in 1998 saw Tendulkar score an unbeaten 205 as Mumbai racked up a 10-wicket win over the visiting Australians. Tendulkar negated the threat posed by the imperious Shane Warne by attacking him to oblivion. The legendary leg-spinner ended the contest with figures of 0-111 off 16 overs.

One of the most engaging battles — Sachin v Warne at Chennai in 1998. Warne got Sachin in the 1st innings.Sachin dominated Warne in the 2nd innings. In the game against Mumbai at the CCI,Warne didn’t bowl a single ball from round the wicket to Tendulkar.

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Delhi are having a forgettable domestic season and have already sacked their selection committee. The inclusion of Virat Kohli, albeit for a game, could prove to be beneficial for both parties.

Do you think Virat Kohli needs to dwell back into domestic cricket before the Border-Gavaskar series? Let us know what you think.

Also Read: "One format bully" - Fans disappointed with Suryakumar Yadav's inability to build and pace an ODI innings