EXCLUSIVE | ‘Not the BCCI, not the selectors, the onus is on players’ – Former chief selector Sunil Joshi on playing domestic cricket
1998, Mohali. First Test against New Zealand. India crashed to 83 on a fresh deck. The batters made amends in the second innings. Centuries by Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar led the way en route 505/3 declared. The Kiwis were left to save the game, which they did. The match ended in a draw. The next fixture was a tour game between the Kiwis and the then Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka. Dravid, Anil Kumble and Sunil Joshi packed their bags to join their state-mates. They were not required to, but chose to, believing there’s no better way to stay in game-mode ahead of the second Test.
Karnataka beat the New Zealanders by seven wickets. The trio returned to Kanpur, venue of the second Test, with a win under their belt, albeit in a tour game. It felt different, a win always does. Kumble bagged a match-haul of 10 wickets. India won by eight wickets.
Joshi stressed the responsibility to play more cricket to remain match competitive was on the players. “The onus and responsibility lies more with the players, than the BCCI or the selection committee,” he said in an exclusive conversation with TimesofIndia.com.
India’s abject surrender against New Zealand spinners in the second and third Test of the recently-concluded series has reignited the debate around players, including seniors Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, not playing domestic cricket.
The first ever 0-3 whitewash at home, failure of the top order batters and the reluctance of premier batters to play domestic cricket have made that debate more intense. What stops them? Many have asked.
TimesofIndia.com spoke to Joshi, who was the chief selector when India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in 2020-21; about the contentious issue.
How do you view this current debate around participation in domestic cricket from the point of view of the BCCI, the selectors and the players?
Let’s not put everything on the BCCI. It’s individual responsibility as well. That’s what I want to stress more on. You know that you are going to play three Test matches, it’s going to be on turners, or it’s going to be on slow wickets. So from white-ball format, (there’s need to) go back to Ranji Trophy and play (in order to get match-ready for the red-ball international season). For everything, the blame can’t be put on the BCCI. The players’ responsibility is also there. Players need to take initiative, and should say, ‘Boss, I will go and play Ranji Trophy, I will go and play Duleep Trophy’.
Does a series defeat like this at home hurt more than an overseas loss?
I think it’s not easy when you lose a series. I am sure even the team management feels the same…If you want to win WTC or you want to be in the WTC final, or you want to be the number one Test team, we have to play well in India. For that, our preparations, the Ranji Trophy becomes a primary goal (tournament). Back in the days also the Test players did participate in the Ranji Trophy games and post that went on to play Test matches. I have done that. Many players have done that.
We struggled against spinners…
If XYZ or our top players do not get runs against spin bowling, what is the way to (improve)? They need to go back and play spin. So why can’t they go back and play domestic cricket? All these players have played Ranji Trophy and then only went on to play Test cricket…It’s not a hard and fast rule; but I think given the circumstances and given the scenarios of WTC, our top players, top six for that matter, should have played one or two (domestic) games prior to the Test series…Nobody is bigger than the game. Everyone faces ups and downs in their career.
Besides the technical preparation and game-time, how does domestic cricket help in psychologically preparing for an important Test series?
The mindset of a player when he is coming with performance (under his belt) is completely different to when you have not played any first-class cricket and are going into a Test series. I will give you an example.
Back in 1998, we played a Test match in Chandigarh (Mohali). We got all out in the first innings for 78-odd (83). We bowled New Zealand out. In the second innings, we (batted well and) drew the Test match. After that and before the Kanpur Test, there was a practice match between New Zealand and Karnataka. I went and played that game, Rahul played, Anil also played; and we beat New Zealand. Then we went to Kanpur, and we won that Test.
Now that there is no chance left for the players to participate in a domestic match and the tour game in Australia has also been cancelled, how difficult is this BGT going to be for India?
We won the last two series in Australia. That is something we need to factor, but do not underestimate Australia because we won the last two series. Winning is not impossible, it’s quite possible. We do have the bowling options and batsmen who can score runs. The Australians know that India has lost a home series 3-nil. The pressure is always more on the visiting team. So we need to be prepared to play absolute hard cricket. Take one Test match at a time and focus on the process part more than the results part.
Many have started judging head coach Gautam Gambhir after the loss against New Zealand…
Knowing Gautam Gambhir, he is a fighting cricketer and we know his commitment towards the game or towards the team. He is very sincere. No coach will ever want to be on the wrong side of a result. We need to give him time. Let’s not judge by the two series that we have seen, just five Test matches. Of course, on home soil we have lost. I am sure he will also be disappointed with the way the Test matches have gone, but don’t judge his acumen or his commitment. He is a fighter and he will come out successful. I know that. We have to give time to them (Gambhir and his coaching staff) to settle down. After two years, the results will be in front of us. Then we can judge.
