The BCCI’s late but right move to re-prioritise domestic cricket isn’t just about providing a stern message to the Team India cricketers who have often opted to not represent their respective states. It’s also an incentive for the India aspirants to take the Ranji Trophy and other national tournaments with seriousness instead of giving all priority to the IPL.
The final of the Ranji Trophy will begin on Sunday at the Wankhede with Mumbai taking on Vidarbha. Irrespective of the outcome though, some of their players are already in the good books of the national selectors.
Among them are Vidarbha’s Yash Rathod and Yash Thakur, along with Mumbai’s spinner all-rounder Tanush Kotian. Tamil Nadu captain and left-arm orthodox spinner R. Sai Kishore has also impressed despite being in the firing line of their coach Sulakshan Kulkarni for opting to bat first in the semi-final against Mumbai.
Kulkarni wanted to put the opposition in.
Rathod, Vidarbha’s 23-year-old middle-order batter, is in just his second season of first-class cricket, but both Thakur and Kotian have been around since 2018.
So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that in the ongoing season, they have had a lot more vigour and greater hunger to perform.
Rathod aggregates 456 runs so far at an average of 57 with three fifties and a century, which includes a 141 in the second innings of the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh in Nagpur.
As for his teammate Thakur, 25, the pacer has 21 wickets from six games with strikes at crucial stages of the quarter-final (versus Karnataka) and semi-final.
“What counts is the duo’s ability to deliver at crucial phases. Rathod has backed up his numbers by scoring in tough situations.
“As for Thakur, he has struck in tricky periods. Besides, he was also in the scheme of things for last year’s Asian Games, but couldn’t make the cut because of fitness problems.
“Impactful performances are the ones to be valued... Not a 200 or even 300 against a weak team or in any inconsequential game. These guys, including Kotian, have ticked the right boxes,” a BCCI official told The Telegraph.
Alongside strengthening Indian cricket’s supply line, Rathod, Thakur and Kotian “certainly stand a fair chance” of an India ‘A’ call-up when the team plays next, the source asserted.
Kotian though has been more effective as a lower-order batter with vital contributions in the quarter and semi-final games against Baroda and Tamil Nadu, respectively. He totals 481 runs, hitting five fifties and a hundred.
Compared to the trio, Sai Kishore is more experienced and also tasted international cricket during the last Asian Games, playing three T20Is. “He still features in the selectors’ notebook for being the only bowler with 50-plus (53) wickets in this Ranji,” the official pointed out.