Team India captain Rohit Sharma has said that domestic tournaments like the Ranji Trophy play a key role when it comes to team selection for Tests and ODIs. Adding that the Indian Premier League is also an important tournament in this regard, he further added that its emergence hasn’t diminished the value of India’s major domestic competitions as well. At the post-match press conference, Rohit Sharma said that India’s domestic structure holds a lot of importance when it comes to picking players for Test and ODI teams as well.

“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,” Rohit Sharma added.

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While talking about the growing importance of the IPL now, Rohit shared that the cash-rich league has its own stature. While many players came into the team through the league, a few domestic veterans have expressed their reservations over IPL’s overpowering dominance in Indian cricket as well. He also opined on India’s poor batting effort in the ODI series in Sri Lanka.

“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 Sharma concluded. “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.”