Due to this, several players were unavailable for their state teams. Sunil Gavaskar has raised concerns over the scheduling issue of India A matches alongside the Ranji Trophy, urging that domestic tournament matches should not be compromised. Gavaskar has also questioned the standard of the tournament, stating that the current structure makes it difficult for players to perform in domestic matches.
The season started on Sunday, which clashed with the final-day match between India A and Australia A.
For then it won’t be a surprise with weakened competition, a batter may reach 2000 runs and a bowler 100 wickets in a Ranji season,” he wrote.
He also said that weakened competition allows players to score big numbers without strong opposition. “There really is no easy solution, and the ‘A’ team matches certainly help in telling who is more likely to succeed internationally and who will remain a top Ranji performer. There’s a case for more A team matches, but not when the domestic competitions, especially the Ranji Trophy, are on.
Players like Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have missed their state team matches due to their India A commitments.
Gavaskar said that the matches should not collide with each other and also stressed the importance of India A matches in identifying the capability of players. India A is also supposed to tour New Zealand later this month for three unofficial Tests, which again means that the players will not be available for the domestic matches. That’s most encouraging though with the India international players hardly playing in the domestic competitions, it’s difficult to know how good some of the individual players are,”
The former India captain wrote in his column in Mid-Day , “The standard in the Elite division has levelled to a great extent as can be seen by teams who were not very competitive earlier, now going on to win the Ranji Trophy.
