Veteran cricket administrator Niranjan Shah questioned the logic of players missing the Ranji Trophy in order to compete on ‘A’ tours. The India ‘A’ team is currently in New Zealand, and the ACC Emerging Teams Cup is also underway.
“The Ranji Trophy is the most important domestic tournament in India. It is not correct to arrange ‘A’ tours during the Ranji Trophy season. Moreover, this New Zealand ‘A’ tour has no meaning and serves no purpose at all,” former BCCI secretary Niranjan told Sportstar here on Thursday.
Changing times
“Everyone wants Ranji Trophy to be more competitive, but when States lose their best players to ‘A’ tours, this becomes impossible. These ‘A’ tours show that there is no respect for the Ranji Trophy, and that State cricket teams are low on the priority list. In the old days, if a player is not selected in the playing XI of the Indian team, we would send him back to represent the State team,” Niranjan said, during Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy encounter against Karnataka.
Read | Jaydev Shah to retire from all cricket
Niranjan's spoke while his son, Jaydev, was doing battle on the pitch.
This will be Jaydev’s last match, as he has announced his retirement. Asked if he will miss seeing Jaydev in the cricket whites, Niranjan replied, “Not really. I have seen him in whites since he was a child. All good things must come to an end.”
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