“Ranji gives national players chance to sometimes rediscover basics”: Sachin Tendulkar

New Delhi [India]: Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday highlighted that playing in the Ranji Trophy allowed national players to go back to basics while also boosting the level of the domestic tournament.

Tendulkar also hailed the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) initiative to give equal priority to domestic cricket. BCCI earlier in the month announced the contracts for the 2023-24 season. Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were among the two biggest omissions from the annual player contracts list.

“Growing up, we had almost 7-8 India players in our dressing room, and it was fun to play alongside them. When India players turn up for their domestic teams, it raises the quality of play for youngsters and sometimes new talent is identified. It also gives the national players a chance to sometimes rediscover the basics.

With top notch players participating in domestic tournaments, over a period of time, fans will also start following and supporting their domestic teams much more. Wonderful to see @BCCI give equal priority to domestic cricket,” Tendulkar posted on X.

Vidarbha appeared to have a slight edge over Madhya Pradesh on the fourth day of the second Ranji Trophy semifinal match in Nagpur with the help of their bowlers and gutsy knocks from Yash Rathod and Akshay Wakhare. The match is tantalisingly poised with Madhya Pradesh needing 93 runs for victory with the last four wickets in hand.

“The Ranji Trophy semi-finals have been riveting! @MumbaiCricAssoc’s march into the finals was aided by a brilliant batting recovery, while the other semi-final hangs in the balance going into the last day – Madhya Pradesh need 90+ runs to win, Vidarbha need 4 wickets.

Throughout my career, I remained passionate about playing for Mumbai whenever I had the opportunity,” he said on the Ranji match.

Meanwhile, Shardul Thakur’s fiery ton and clinical power bowling performance from Shams Mulani powered Mumbai to the final of the ongoing Ranji Trophy following their victory by an innings and 70 runs over Tamil Nadu at MCA Cricket Ground. Tamil Nadu batters once again failed to deliver with the bat against Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai team.