"Lot of guys now representing the country have come up playing domestic cricket" - Rohit Sharma doesn't feel IPL has diminished value of Ranji Trophy
Team India captain Rohit Sharma has asserted that domestic tournaments like the Ranji Trophy continue to hold a lot of value when it comes to team selection for Tests and ODIs. Admitting that the Indian Premier League is also an important tournament in this regard, he added that its emergence hasn't diminished the value of India's major domestic competitions.
India went down to Sri Lanka 2-0 in the three-match ODI series that concluded in Colombo on Wednesday, August 7. Considered one of the best spin-playing teams in international cricket, the Men in Blue struggled against Sri Lanka's slow bowlers, suffering shocking batting collapses in all three games.
At the post-match press conference, Rohit made it clear that India's domestic structure holds prime importance when it comes to picking players for Test and ODI teams. Responding to a query on whether he would advise India's young batters to play domestic cricket more frequently, Rohit affirmed:
"That's always been our goal - to make sure that guys who are available go and play Ranji Trophy. Our domestic cricket is the backbone of our international cricket. A lot of the guys who are now representing the country have come up playing domestic cricket, so our domestic cricket is crucial for everyone. We want to make sure that it stays competitive.
"We get players from our domestic circuit, not so much from IPL. When you choose players for Test and ODI cricket, a lot of discussion happens on who is doing well in Ranji Trophy, one-day format, Syed Mushtaq Ali and stuff like that," the Indian captain added.
Elaborating on the growing importance of the IPL amid the craze for the T20 format, Rohit explained that the cash-rich league has its own stature.
"IPL is, of course, one format where the challenges are different. It's a competition of both. IPL is also our cricket - it's Indian Premier League. At the end of the day, whoever does well in all of these tournaments eventually will get picked up," Rohit went on to comment.
There has been a constant debate over IPL and its benefit to Indian cricket. While many players have become superstars through the league, a few domestic veterans have expressed their reservations over the tournament's overpowering dominance in Indian cricket.
"We all play on these kinds of pitches" - Rohit Sharma says turning tracks no excuse for loss
Speaking about India's shambolic batting effort in the ODI series in Sri Lanka, Rohit said that playing on spinning tracks can never be an excuse for them, as they are brought up on such surfaces at home.
"Playing spin, playing against slow bowlers on slow pitches - that shouldn't be an excuse for us. We all play on these kinds of pitches. It's all about just having that game plan and being very clear with your plans," the Indian captain conceded in the post-match conference.
Rohit was the leading run-getter in the three-match ODI series, with 157 runs at an average of 52.33 and a strike rate of 141.4. However, no other batter from the side totaled 100 runs in the series.