The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set a goal to ensure that players make themselves available for their domestic teams. The Saurashtra Cricket Team, who are the defending champions of the Ranji Trophy, will be participating in the tournament this year. Previously, the Ranji Trophy was considered India’s top tournament before the Indian Premier League (IPL) came into existence. Players used to prioritize their participation in the Ranji Trophy as a means to secure a spot in the national team. Even renowned Indian cricketers used to make themselves available for the tournament when there were no international matches taking place. However, with the emergence of the IPL, many players shifted their focus towards the shorter format of the game in hopes of securing an IPL contract. This resulted in international players often skipping the Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments. In response to this trend, the BCCI has decided to take action and will be instructing all players to prioritize their domestic teams whenever they are not involved in international cricket. Exceptions to this rule will only be made in the case of injuries or if players are at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The decision was prompted by the observation that many players tend to switch into “IPL mode” during the month of January.
KS Bharat, who has been struggling with poor batting performances since the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, is currently facing criticism. Despite being one of the top performers in the Ranji Trophy, he has been unable to replicate his success at the international level. In the seven Test matches he has played, Bharat has only managed to score 221 runs in 12 innings, with an average of 20.09. As a result of his recent struggles, the Indian team management has decided to replace him with Dhruv Jurel for the upcoming third Test in Rajkot. Jurel, who made a name for himself in the IPL, has also excelled in First Class cricket. In his 15 Test matches, he has scored 790 runs at an impressive average of 46.47. Additionally, he has taken 36 dismissals as a wicketkeeper and has even scored a century in First Class cricket. Alongside Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan will also be making his Test debut, as he replaces the dropped Shreyas Iyer in the Test squad.
According to the Source firstsportz.com