By Karan Agrawal 
Former Indian captain Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul won’t be available for the next round of Ranji Trophy matches scheduled to begin on January 23 the duo has communicated the decision to the BCCI. The former has been nursing a stiff neck whereas the latter is facing an elbow niggle. The move which sees India’s first-choice players make a return to domestic cricket is followed by a strict guideline that makes it mandatory for every player who hasn’t been selected in either of the three squads to play domestic cricket.
The Decision
According to the new guidelines framed by the BCCI if a player is unavailable for any of the domestic tournaments he has to inform the selectors or the head coach about the reason for the same. If the reason is felt to be valid the player will be permitted to skip the tournament.
The Reason
If we talk about Virat Kohli the former Indian captain informed the BCCI that he is suffering from a stiff neck and had taken an injection after the end of the fifth test against Australia. Whereas KL Rahul said that he has an elbow niggle and won’t be able to take part in Karnartaka’s Ranji Trophy match against Punjab
The Availability
As far as the availability of other players who were a part of the India team during the tour of Australia is concerned middle order batter Sarfaraz Khan won’t be able to play in the match against Jammu & Kashmir owing to a rib injury an MCA source told Hindustan Times “Sarfaraz has injured his ribs and has informed us about his unavailability for the next Ranji Trophy match,” the MCA source said. On the other hand Indian captain Rohit Sharma was seen in the nets practicing with Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy Team ahead of their next match.
The Opportunity
Among other batters opener, Yashasvi Jaiswal has made himself available for Mumbai’s next Ranji Trophy match scheduled to begin on January 23 an MCA source told Hindustan Times about the development while wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant will make his first Ranji appearance for Delhi since 2017 along with Shubman Gill who will feature in Punjab’s game against Karnataka.