Embattled India captain Rohit Sharma has made himself available for the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match between Mumbai and Jammu & Kashmir. The Elite Group A match at MCA-BKC Ground, Mumbai is scheduled to start on January 23. (More Cricket News)
Rohit Sharma &am🏅p; Co. lost the five-🐟match series 3-1 despite winning the tour opener, under stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah, and thus relinquished the BTG Trophy after a decade
Embattled India captain Rohit Sharma has made himself available for the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match between Mumbai and Jammu & Kashmir. The Elite Group A match at MCA-BKC Ground, Mumbai is scheduled to start on January 23. (More Cricket News)
The 37-year-old said "Yes, I will play" when asked about his availability during the announcement of India's ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad in Mumbai on Saturday.
It's worth noting that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued a stern warning to international stars to play domestic cricket when available following India's 🦹debacle in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia.
Rohit Sharma & Co. lost the five-match series 3-1 despite winning the tour opener, under stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah, and thus relinquished the BTG Trophy after a decade. The seriesꦉ witnessed abject failure from India's star batters.
"For the last 6-7 years, if yo💞u look at our calendar, we haven't been sitting home for 45 days when cricket has been going on. Y𒁃ou do get time when IPL finishes when nothing happens after that. Our domestic season begins in October and ends in March, he said.
Interestingly, Rishabh Pant (Delhi), Shubman Gill (Punjab), and Yashasvi Jaiswal (Mumbai) have also made themselves available to play in the next round of the Ranji Trophy.🥃 Pant was offered the captaincy, but the wicket-keeper has reportedly declined to lead the team. Another Test regular who is like♕ly to play Ranji is Ravindra Jadeja, for Saurashtra.
Meanwhile, reports emerged Saturday that Virat Kohli ജand KL Rahul will not p🦋lay Ranji matches. Kohli has ruled himself out of the Delhi vs Saurashtra match citing neck pain and Rahul, who is associated with Karnataka, is dealing with an elbow issue.
"Guys who are not playing all formats and when there's domestic cricket happening, they can play," Rohit added. "For me personally, since I✨'ve started playing Test cricket regularly, you hardly get time. When you regularly play international cricket, you need time off to refresh. Nobody takes it for granted."
A contemporary great, Rohit last played in India's premier domestic List A tour🍎nament in November 2015, at the same venue against Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, he was seen training with the Mumbai players. The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) will announce the squad on January 20.
Selected matches of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season will be available to stream live on the Jꩲio Cinema app and website in India. On TV, the Sports 18 nꦐetwork channels will broadcast the matches.