Indian Test batter Ajinkya Rahane has voiced his thoughts in favour of having five-day first-class matches. After last year's Ranji Trophy runners-up Mumbai failed to qualify for the quarterfinals this season, the 34-year-old Rahane claimed that five-day game will guarantee results.
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According to the Indian cricketer, extracting result from flat decks in four days is quite difficult and can affect the result of any match and fate of teams in domestic competitions.
"First class cricket can become five-day cricket. We play Test matches over five days and in five days that possibility of a result is almost guaranteed. You will get more results. Every game should be result-oriented," the 34-year-old was quoted by Sportstar.
The right-handed batter further stressed on the fact that it is important to have the five-day format in all stages of first-class cricket to ensure fair results. Rahane believes that cricketers would be able to learn about the tough five-day scenarios right from their early days and that would prepare the youngsters for future challenges.
“In four-day games you don’t really get results on flat decks. We tried to get as many results as possible, but it became challenging. In five-day cricket, that will happen more frequently. I don’t know how it can fit into the calendar, but five-day cricket will make domestic cricketers get used to the hard work at FC stage,” added Rahane.
The senior Indian batter also stated that the right implementation of the idea will give us a better opportunity to develop better Test cricketers. “It can automatically be carried forward into international cricket. How to survive sessions, how to bowl disciplined, all these factors can be taken care of if we play all Ranji Trophy games over five days." he concluded.
Meanwhile Team India will play its last four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy this year as BCCI has already confirmed that future editions will feature five-match series between India and Australia. The series opener is scheduled to take place on February 9 in Nagpur.
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