NEW DELHI: Legendary India batsman Sunil Gavaskar expressed his optimism that this initiative will be more than just a box-ticking exercise, as most Test squad players compete for their state teams in the Ranji Trophy.
Players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal, and Kuldeep Yadav have played for their respective state teams since the start of the second leg of the Ranji Trophy on January 23.
"The India team players may have participated in the Ranji Trophy simply to tick the box of 'must dos' that the BCCI had insisted on and by doing that they brought new energy to the National Championship.
"Even though they may not have made a successful return to the tournament, their very presence would have enthused their teammates and their opponents. Meeting and spending time with them would give the teammates so much to learn from them as to how to be successful in their careers.
"Imagine the lift off for the players who got the wickets of Jaiswal, Sharma, Kohli, Rahul. They will be raring to go at other batters knowing that they have got the wickets of India's top order," wrote Gavaskar in his column for Mid-day on Sunday.
Following their 1-3 series defeat in Australia, the BCCI made it mandatory for India's best Test players to play domestic cricket whenever possible, which led to their return to the esteemed domestic competition.
"Hopefully for the India stars too meeting the guys with whom they started their Ranji Trophy careers will have rekindled the great memories of the camaraderie and the struggle to climb the ladder to the top.
"The India stars may not have had great individual success in the Ranji games that they played last week, but by turning up they have boosted the Ranji Trophy to the level that the National Championship deserves and for that they deserve all the accolades. Let's hope this becomes a habit and not just a box ticking exercise," added Gavaskar.
The return of Rohit and Kohli to the Ranji Trophy also brought many people to watch matches in the stadium, especially with more than 20,000 people coming to see the latter in action at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
"Elsewhere it was wonderful to see the number of youngsters who came to watch the Ranji Trophy match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Sure they came to watch Virat Kohli and that's what star power is about.
"Even if a fraction of those who came out to watch get inspired by the frenzy that was seen and go on to do something exceptional in their careers that would be the cherry on top. Earlier in the week Rohit Sharma's participation in Mumbai's Ranji Trophy game also was good to see.
"Mumbai being a working city there weren't as many who could spare the time to watch the game. In any case, if they were Mumbai supporters then it was a good thing they didn't go to the game as Jammu and Kashmir beat the defending champions comprehensively and that's never an easy thing to see for a Mumbai supporter," concluded Gavaskar.
