Former India player turned veteran commentator Sunil Gavaskar has questioned the star players’ motivation to play the final rounds of the Ranji Trophy as well. However, he said their participation added a lot of energy to the domestic tournament as well. After India’s back-to-back Test series defeats to New Zealand and Australia, Indian players came under pressure. The BCCI’s new rule, calling on the players to play domestic cricket when available, saw them taking part in Ranji Trophy.

Gavaskar, in his column for the Mid Day wrote: “The India team players may have participated in the Ranji Trophy simply to tick the box of ‘must dos’ that the BCCI had insisted on and by doing that they brought a new energy to the National Championship. Even though they may not have made a successful return to the tournament their very presence would have enthused their teammates and their opponents.”

“The India stars may not have had great individual success in the Ranji games that they played last week, but by turning up they have boosted the Ranji Trophy to the level that the National Championship deserves and for that they deserve all the accolades. Let’s hope this becomes a habit and not just a box ticking exercise.”

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Sunil Gavaskar also shared his delight at seeing fans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi for their final group-stage match of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy against Railways as well. With Virat Kohli playing his first Ranji Trophy game in over 12 years, the fans turned up in numbers to watch him.

“It was wonderful to see the number of youngsters who came to watch the Ranji Trophy match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Sure they came to watch Virat Kohli and that’s what star power is about. Even if a fraction of those who came out to watch get inspired by the frenzy that was seen and go on to do something exceptional in their careers that would be the cherry on top,” Gavaskar again wrote.

“Rohit Sharma’s participation in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy game also was good to see. Mumbai being a working city there weren’t as many who could spare the time to watch the game. In any case, if they were Mumbai supporters then it was a good thing they didn’t go to the game as Jammu and Kashmir beat the defending champions comprehensively and that’s never an easy thing to see for a Mumbai supporter,” he concluded.