Quality of cricket in Ranji Trophy has dropped, asserts Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina has been vocal against BCCI's policy of not letting the Indian players participate in the foreign leagues and how that doesn’t do any favours to the non-contracted cricketers, who try to stay relevant and be match-fit for the Indian Premier League. While the concern was shut down by a BCCI official, Raina has now claimed that he doesn’t need to play in foreign leagues for money, rather to develop his own game in a time when Ranji Trophy doesn’t provide the same exposure.

“It's not about money. The money that we earn in IPL, we can't get it anywhere. Even if we play foreign leagues for 10 years, we won't be able to earn that much. The thing is when cricket (IPL) is over, players who aren't contracted....give them a chance. We want to play one league or two leagues. We just want to play. Ranji Trophy's standard isn't of that quality now,” Raina told Aakash Chopra on Instagram Live.

“We need match practice. If we sit at home for two months....even if we play domestic cricket..you won't have that confidence. We want to play quality cricket. I am not playing for money. I am happy with the money I have,” Raina added.

After Raina brought the issue forward last month, Robin Uthappa too echoed the CSK star and stated that it was important that the veteran cricketers played in the foreign league to keep themselves in touch with the sport. As a matter of fact, the BCCI doesn’t allow any players to participate in any leagues outside IPL and only retired players can play outside on contract.