One of the most successful coaches in domestic cricket, current Madhya Pradesh head coach Chandrakant Pandit and former national selector and ex-India pacer Salil Ankola have welcomed the BCCI’s move to make at least a couple of Vijay Hazare Trophy matches mandatory for Team India’s senior cricketers. With the domestic 50-over tournament starting today, India stalwarts Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav and batting sensation Abhishek Sharma will be seen in action across different venues.
Kohli will be playing for the Rishabh Pant-led Delhi against Andhra at Bengaluru, while Rohit and India’s T20I captain Suryakumar will bat for Shardul Thakur’s Mumbai team against Sikkim at Jaipur. India’s Test and ODI captain Gill and Abhishek will represent Punjab against the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Maharashtra in Jaipur.
“It’s a good move that all international players, including India’s stalwarts, are available and keen to play this Vijay Hazare tournament. Naturally, the value of this tournament is very high now. Also, it will give a lot of motivation to all the other players. The sheer presence of players like Virat, Rohit and Shubman will motivate others to give their best as they try and compete. At the same time, these matches will give the international stars some good preparation. For example, someone like Shubman has been failing to score runs at the top level in the recent past, but if he scores here, it will be a good confidence-booster for him,” Pandit told mid-day over the phone from Ahmedabad, where his team will take on Rajasthan on Wednesday.
Pandit reckoned these are good times for domestic cricket: “These players are setting a good example for this and the upcoming generation by playing in this tournament. One should never forget where you started playing the game, and by playing this tournament the international players are showing that they haven’t forgotten their roots. This is a good sign for Indian domestic cricket and hopefully, it will continue in future.”
Former India pacer Ankola, who was a national selector recently, recalled how his generation of players, including batting icon Sachin Tendulkar, were always eager to play in Mumbai’s local circuit. “In our days, everybody used to play. Right from Sachin to Sanjay [Manjrekar] to Ravi [Shastri]. I remember Sachin never missed Sungrace Mafatlal’s matches. Playing in the nets is one thing and actually playing a match is totally different. To get into the groove, you need match practice. Performance also matters. When you bowl to any player and when you bowl to someone like Rohit or Virat, it’s totally different. It’s a different ball game altogether when the legends of the game are playing,” Ankola concluded.
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