'It is The Cricketer's Choice': Ravichandran Ashwin on BCCI's Ruling Regarding Domestic Cricket Duties

To play or not to play domestic cricket? This is the question that has sparked heated debates across the nation recently.

With the rise of the shorter formats of cricket, such as the cash-rich T20s, players are often more incentivized to invest their talents in them. A consequence of doing the same is the demise of the longer format, that is Test cricket.

With cricketers and pundits alike clamoring about the need to preserve and cherish the long format and how Test cricket needs to be revived, there has arisen a conversation about the other sometimes-forgotten format of cricket in this nation, domestic cricket such as Ranji.

In light of wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan seemingly opting out of not just domestic cricket, but also international duty in the long format to focus on his IPL season preparation, the BCCI ruled it mandatory for centrally contracted players to actively engage in the domestic circuit when not on international duty.

In the midst of all this conversation about preserving and nurturing the game, one begs to ask the question: What about the players? Well, Ravichandran Ashwin had his say on the topic.

In an interview with the Indian Express, Ashwin opened up about his thoughts on the BCCI’s move and what he believed were the repercussions of the same on the game and its players alike.

“Sometimes when an organisation takes a stand, it might not suit everyone, it might not work in favour of everyone, it might be detrimental to a few people. What we must understand here is the message being conveyed by the organisational body here, it said we are prioritising Test cricket, IPL is not everything as far as we are concerned,” stated Ashwin.

“They are saying Test cricket is of paramount importance, we are going to promote it and we expect people eligible to play this format. In my view, they are making all the right noises.”

The veteran spinner though took amore nuanced stance when expounding on the implementation of the ruling and the effect it will have on the players more importantly, stating that no player should be bound to oblige to every beck and call of the BCCI.

“At the same time, whether a cricketer wants to do all the 12 months, or only want to do the two months or whether they want to be relevant playing T20 cricket and one-day cricket and do not want to be playing Test cricket, is their choice,” Ashwin stated.