Leading Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur has expressed his desire for longer rest periods between Ranji Trophy games. In order to help the players get more sleep and be better prepared for their upcoming games, the 32-year-old requested the same thing.
It is noteworthy that Mumbai would have played ten first-class games in less than ten weeks if the team made it to the competition final. When Shardul Thakur saw the schedule as it was now, he described it as hard and steadily increasing.
“There will be a lot of injuries nationwide if guys continue to play like that for two more seasons. They, the BCCI, need to take another look at it and give it more of a break next year. According to ESPNcricinfo, Thakur said, “I remember playing Ranji Trophy back in the day, about seven or eight years ago. The first three games used to have a three-day break, and then it was a four-day break, and knockouts were played [with] five-day breaks.”
It is quite difficult for players who are domestic. Shardul Thakur
Shardul Thakur provided more insight into the demanding Ranji Trophy schedule. It’s noteworthy to note that the BCCI is compelled to squeeze in additional local tournaments within a tighter time frame because the Indian Premier League (IPL) calendar expands every other season.
Recently, Gujarat’s trip to New Delhi was canceled the day after their Ahmedabad home match against Karnataka. The rescheduled flight was delayed on the second day, so when the side did arrive in Delhi, they were forced to spend the night in the airport.
This year, every game has been played with a three-day interval, as we have observed. If [a] team advances to the finals, it is quite difficult to expect domestic players to play 10 games in a row with only a three-day break, according to Thakur.
Additionally, in the previous structure, one team would advance through the round-robin round when there were nine teams in the group. He continued, “because [additional] break has gone now because there are just eight teams in each group and everyone plays each other.