India’s cricket stars skip domestic grind: Virat Kohli last played domestic red-ball cricket in 2012, Rohit Sharma in 2016

* In the last four years, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj and K L Rahul have played just four long-format domestic games between them.

THE NUMBERS speak for themselves. The players who form the nucleus of India’s Test team barely plough the domestic fields, and this lack of red-ball match practice is impacting international results.

On Sunday, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team surrendered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) to Australia after a decade. The reversal came months after the team lost 0-3 to New Zealand at home, the first-ever whitewash by a touring team. These two setbacks resulted in an unprecedented scenario — India missing the World Test Championship final.

To avoid further humiliation, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said India regulars should represent their state units in the game’s longest format. “On January 23, there is the next round of the Ranji Trophy. Let’s see how many players from this squad play. If you do not play those matches, then I say that Gautam Gambhir will have to take a few tough decisions, saying, ‘you do not have that commitment, we need commitment, you are not playing’,” he said.

India’s Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli wait for play to start on day three of the third Test between India and Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia. (AP Photo)

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a team management member said that while playing domestic cricket cannot fix all the flaws, it can certainly help Test players get into the rhythm needed to play the longest format.

“Without game time in the middle, their game will stagnate… The switch from the red ball to the white ball is easy, but when it is the other way round, it is challenging. When you play Ranji games frequently, you will be in rhythm,” said the source.

Last August, then BCCI Secretary Jay Shah had warned Team India players of “severe implications” if they prioritised the T20 Indian Premier League (IPL) over domestic cricket. “Domestic cricket has always been the foundation upon which Indian cricket stands, and it has never been undervalued in our vision for the sport,” he said in a letter to the contracted players.

But, while the big Test stars continued to avoid domestic games and escaped any sanctions, a couple of mid-rung cricketers, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, lost their BCCI central contracts.

Former India player Irfan Pathan, in an interaction with Star Sports, called for a “cultural change” to solve the problem. “We have to change the culture. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar played Ranji Trophy even when it wasn’t required of him, only because he wanted to spend that much time on the pitch,” he said.

The recent 3-1 loss to Australia in the BGT had enough examples that showed Indian cricket’s ‘red-ball rust’ and white-ball habits.

There was injudicious shot selection — Rishabh Pant repeatedly getting out playing risky strokes. Batsmen were repeating mistakes — Kohli poking at balls outside-the-off-stump. Bowlers were not in shape to bowl long spells — Siraj frequently losing rhythm and Harshit Rana struggling to maintain intensity. There was lack of Test temperament — Gill’s restlessness at the crease and stepping out, and Rohit Sharma attempting white-ball strokes early in his innings.

Apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal, no Indian batsman faced 200 or more balls during a knock on the tour. Only two batsmen managed 150-plus balls (Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy). Gill’s best was 51; Pant lasted 100 or more balls only once, and 50-plus only twice; Rohit consumed 110 balls across five outings.

Barring the century in Perth, Kohli didn’t last 100 balls in any of his eight other knocks. Jaiswal faced the most number of balls by an Indian batsman (732). To draw a parallel, Cheteshwar Pujara devoured 1,258 in 7 innings in 2018-19; Rahul Dravid’s tally was 1,203 on the 2003-04 tour. Pujara absorbed 928 deliveries in 2020-21 too. India’s best moments in Australia this century were shaped by the granite of two defensive stalwarts.

The just-concluded series was not an aberration. In the three Tests against New Zealand last year, Team India managed only one hundred and seven half-centuries. More damningly, Rachin Ravindra negotiated turners better than any Indian batsman and Kiwi captain Tom Latham showed more Test match batting wisdom than the hosts’ celebrated top order. Batting time, occupying the crease and grinding the opposition bowlers to dust seem like virtues of a bygone era. Indian batting collapses too have become passé — 34/7 against Australia, 46 all out, 54/7 and 53/6 against New Zealand.

India’s Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Australia’s Mitchell Marsh during play on the day four of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Bumrah, the bright spot

The problems are not just on the batting front. Jasprit Bumrah’s inspired exhibition of fast bowling glossed over the cracks in the bowling department. But flaws exist. None of his accomplices could sustain their intensity for an entire spell, forget an innings, match or series. Siraj wasn’t consistent, Rana betrayed he was undercooked to be a Test regular. There was no workhorse in the mould of Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma or Shardul Thakur in the 2020-21 series, those who could bowl tirelessly, against the wind, up the slope.

But the Indian team seems to be distrustful of domestic toilers. Part of the India tour party in Australia, Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Eeaswaran, the two most consistent batsmen on the domestic circuit over the last five years, barely got a hit in the nets, leave alone a Test match. Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna, domestic regulars for half-a-decade, were overlooked for 10-first-class-game-old Rana in Perth. Such instances construe an impression that the team management no longer rewards domestic toils.

On the other hand, those in the team management argue that high-class players are not coming through the system as frequently as they once did. “In the past, when Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman were part of the Test side, there were the likes of Amol Muzumdar and S Sharath who scored nearly 9,000-10,000 runs without a Test cap. Now we don’t have one player scoring consistently,” the official said.

For instance, in the last three editions of the Ranji Trophy, only two batsmen have appeared in the top-10 run-getters’ list twice. Similarly, last season saw only one triple hundred and 12 double centuries. In 2019-20, there were three triple centuries and 25 double hundreds.

A system that has consistently produced Test-class players cannot turn dysfunctional overnight. However, it would definitely benefit from the return of stars, just as domestic cricket could revive the fading sparkle of the stars too.