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Former India cricketer and commentator Ravi Shastri has taken a brutal dig at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and India’s bowling unit after their failure on Day 1 of the World Test Championship Final 2023. The former BCCI head coach has asked the cricketing board and the bowlers to set their priorities between the Indian Premier League and national duty.
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Shastri made this statement after India conceded 469 runs against Australia and finished on 151/5 by the end of Day 2's play. The top order of the Rohit Sharma side which consists of the skipper himself, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill failed to perform. It was only due to Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane’s 71-run partnership that kept their hopes alive in the ongoing Test match. Shastri was in a talk with Star Sports, and he said, “You must set your priorities, right? What is the priority? India or franchise cricket? You have to decide that. If you say franchise cricket, then forget this (WTC final). If this is important, then as the custodian of the sport, the BCCI are the bosses."
The former India coach added, "There should be a clause in the IPL contract that if they need a player out of the IPL in the interest of India, they have the right to do it. First, put the clause and then ask the franchises to decide how much they want to invest. That is very important. You are the custodian of the sport. You control cricket in the country.”
Notably, this isn’t the first time Shastri has raised his concern on this topic. He has, time and again, urged Indian players, who are bound for the WTC, to keep their workload management and form during the IPL season.