Kapil Dev reacts on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma playing Ranji after years

Kapil Dev also sent a warning to BCCI’s chief selector, Ajit Agarkar.

On Tuesday, former India captain Kapil Dev strongly reacted to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s return to domestic cricket after years. The two veteran batters played their first Ranji Trophy game in 12 and 9 years, respectively, last month after the BCCI issued a fresh mandate on domestic cricket participation.

Kapil Dev reacts to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s return to domestic cricket.

Speaking on the YouTube show, ‘Cricket Adda,’ Kapil Dev remained unfazed over Rohit and Kohli’s unfavourable return to the red-ball tournament and rather called for a stricter system from the BCCI so that every cricketer plays domestic cricket. He asked a valid question on whether the two stalwarts would have been forced to play in Ranji had they scored runs in Australia. He said, “If you are talking about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma playing Ranji Trophy after 12 years…how is that right? It does not look good at all. It’s not because they did not perform. Whether they score runs or not, you have to score runs in domestic cricket. So yes, certain strong measures have to be taken. But my point is, had we won or had Rohit or Kohli scored runs, would they have played Ranji Trophy? Don’t look at the performances; make the system strong. Whether you score zero or lakhs of runs, play cricket by staying within the system.”

Kohli and Rohit returned to domestic cricket

Asking a rather valid question about Kohli and Rohit, Kapil sent a warning to BCCI’s chief selector, Ajit Agarkar. In the wake of a poor run in Test cricket from India’s mainstay batters, BCCI once again mandated domestic cricket participation, making it compulsory for all contractual players to stay in contention for a place in the national squad. Hence, Kohli and Rohit, among other Indian regulars, made a return to the Ranji Trophy game last month. Kohli played in Delhi’s final league game against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, while Rohit played in Mumbai’s home game against Jammu and Kashmir.