By Karan Agrawal 
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the two senior Indian batters, might escape strict action from the BCCI for not playing Ranji Trophy. According to a report in Hindustan Times on Monday, “With Kohli though, there is a strong view within the board that if he is keen to play on, he should bat with pomp like before, and for that, returning to the basics may be necessary. “
The Form
The former and current Indian captain had a below-average tour of Australia. Virat Kohli could score only one 50-plus score in the 10 innings in which he batted, while captain Rohit Sharma seemed like a walking wicket and was unable to score a single half-century in six innings of the three matches he played on the tour.
The Reaction
The Poor performances of the two senior players sparked strong reactions from former Indian cricketers like Irfan Pathan and Sunil Gavaskar as the two slammed the out-of-form baters for not playing domestic cricket.
The Stance
However, the BCCI is not in the mood to follow the example of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, who were excluded from the central contract list for not playing domestic cricket last year. The report further said, “If the players do not play Ranji Trophy without valid medical or fitness reasons, it would have a bearing on their future India selection.”
The Reason
BCCI’s current mandate makes it compulsory for all the players to play domestic cricket and exemptions are only made if the player is nursing an injury. Following the decision in 2024 all the contracted players were asked to feature in the Duleep Trophy to provide selectors an opportunity to select the team for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh at home. Although a majority of the players played in the tournament both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma decided to skip the tournament.
The Result
Following Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s recent struggles against spin in the home series against New Zealand and their weakness against fast bowling which was on show during the recently concluded series against Australia there were speculations that the duo might feature in the remainder of the Ranji Trophy season for their respective teams.
But as things said both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma haven’t made themselves available for the upcoming Ranji Trophy matches. “There’s no substitute to spending time at the crease to regain confidence. It is for the player, no matter how experienced, to realise it,” a BCCI official said.