Picture Credit: X

Picture Credit: X

With a lot of questions surrounding senior veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s future in international cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is eyeing to take even more stringent actions. After the BCCI mandated centrally contracted players to feature in domestic cricket tournaments, in the Review Meeting which took place on Saturday, January 11, the BCCI has come up with new guidelines.

In the BCCI Review Meeting, which was attended by Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Ajit Agarkar, Roger Binny, Rajiv Shukla and Devjit Saikia (Joint Secretary), the performance of the Indian men’s senior team was reviewed, following their back-to-back defeats in Test cricket, against New Zealand and Australia.

BCCI to request all senior players to participate in domestic tournaments: Reports

In one of the recent developments, the BCCI also cracked the whip, addressing the senior members to feature in domestic cricket tournaments if they look to prolong their future in red-ball cricket. According to a report in Dainik Jagran, BCCI will request all senior players to participate in domestic cricket. During the meeting it was also decided that centrally contracted players can only miss out if they get a report from the physio.

Apart from the report, the player will also have to get a nod from the head coach and the Chairman of Selectors, the report further added. It further adds that a player will be granted exemption only when Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar cite workload-related issues. According to the report, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s absence from domestic cricket was also discussed in the meeting, thus highlighting the importance to return to domestic tournament.

This comes after Rohit Sharma last played a Ranji Trophy match in 2015, whereas Virat Kohli’s last Ranji match came in 2012. In their recently-concluded outing, the duo disappointed as Rohit Sharma amassed 31 runs across three Tests, Virat Kohli managed to scored 190 runs across five Tests and was victim of outside off-stump deliveries in majority of cases.