Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma: When was their last Ranji Trophy appearance

Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma: When was their last Ranji Trophy appearance (AFP Photo)

Ever since the T20 World Cup triumph in USA and West Indies last year, Team India has witnessed significant downfall, particularly in the Test format. A star-studded Indian unit were humbled by New Zealand at home, with the Black Caps completing a whitewash. The outcome had major repercussions on India's chances to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) finals.

The team then traveled to Australia for a high voltage five-match series, which saw the unit hit another setback. Rohit Sharma and Co. endured a 1-3 loss and were out of the WTC final contention.

While WTC was a larger picture, the two series exposed a lot of frailties in particularly in the batting department. The batters failed to withstand the opposition's attack both in seaming and turning conditions, with many pointing out the lack of domestic cricket behind the downfall.

Also Read: Ravi Shastri highlights 'two important reasons' why Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma should play domestic cricket

Ever since a lot of ex-cricketers have echoed the need to return to domestic circuit as the second phase of the Ranji Trophy starts from January 23. In this article we take a look at the Indian stars and when was their last appearance in Ranji Trophy...

Virat Kohli: The last time Kohli played a Ranji Trophy match was in 2012. The match was played in Ghaziabad against Uttar Pradesh (Group B, November 2-5), which featured the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Suresh Raina, Mohammed Kaif and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Perhaps it was one of the last star-studded games played in India's premier domestic tournament.

Rohit Sharma: The Indian skipper last played domestic red-ball cricket in 2015.

The duo have since played one first-class game each - Kohli for India A before a tour of Sri Lanka (2017), and Rohit for India A before a home series against South Africa (2019) when he was set to open in Tests.

Also Read: Yuvraj Singh shields Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli: 'Media's job to say bad, my job is to support my brothers'

What about others?

The last four years have seen some stars ply their trade in domestic cricket but it has been rather sporadically. Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj and KL Rahul have played just four long-format domestic games between them.

BCCI's stance

Jay Shah, the former BCCI secretary, had previously warned players of serious implications for skipping domestic cricket and priortising the Indian Premier League (IPL). “Domestic cricket has always been the foundation upon which Indian cricket stands, and it has never been undervalued in our vision for the sport,” he said in a letter to the contracted players.

While the big names escaped any sanctions, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan lost their BCCI central contracts.

Also Read: Ruturaj Gaikwad or Sai Sudharsan should be picked ahead of 'overrated' Shubman Gill, says ex-India selector K Srikkanth

When was Sachin Tendulkar's last Ranji match?

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan in an interaction with Star Sports blasted at the current culture and called for a change to fix the problem. He then mentioned the name of batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. “We have to change the culture. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar played Ranji Trophy even when it wasn’t required of him, only because he wanted to spend that much time on the pitch,” he said.

His last Ranji Trophy game was in 2013 (vs Haryana at Lahli in October).