Reports | Limited-over specialists asked by BCCI to avoid Ranji matches

The Ranji Trophy has already been replaced by the IPL when it comes to the selection process, which has left former cricketers and experts infuriated, and now reports have suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) no longer sees it as an ideal platform for national players to practice when not playing for the country.

According to TOI, BCCI has become cautious with the players’ fitness and has barred the ODI and T20I specialists from playing in the age-old domestic tournament. Players like Chahal, Bumrah, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, and Dinesh Karthik are currently going through training and recovery at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.

"Chahal had asked for permission to play for Haryana but he was not allowed to do so by the team management. Instead, he was asked to stay back at NCA after the T20I series against New Zealand a fortnight ago," a BCCI official close to the development told TOI.

“The idea is to preserve these players. They have been doing well for the ODI team and there's no point in burning them out or risking injuries by playing domestic matches."

Karthik and Jadhav skipped the last round of Ranji matches citing a hip strain and hand injury respectively, while Hardik Pandya skipped the Test series citing fitness issues. Quite understandably, the recent developments haven’t gone down well with the state cricket authorities who are dealing were relying on their star players to return home for the domestic tournament.

"After a lot of effort over the years, India players were made to play Ranji Trophy while not playing for the national team and selections were done based on that. The Haryana team management wanted Chahal to play since six players are injured at the moment. Gujarat too needed Bumrah and Patel's services but all of that has been ignored," a top BCCI official reported.

India are scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20Is against Sri Lanka next month and players like Chahal and Bumrah are expected to be released on November 4. The others, however, could come out of NCA around November 26-27. Interestingly, Yuvraj Singh is at the NCA as well and is not playing for Punjab.