Mumbai, 5 March

The legendary Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday said playing in the Ranji Trophy provides national players an opportunity to go back to basics while also elevating the level of the domestic tournament.

The BCCI recently made it mandatory for its centrally contracted players to play domestic red-ball cricket if they aren't on national duty or in the NCA. The BCCI excluded Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from its central contract list after they missed their state team's respective Ranji Trophy games.

"When India players turn up for their domestic teams, it raises the quality of play for youngsters and sometimes new talent is identified. It also gives the national players a chance to sometimes rediscover the basics," Tendulkar posted on X. "Throughout my career, I remained passionate about playing for Mumbai whenever I had the opportunity. Growing up, we had almost 7-8 India players in our dressing room, and it was fun to play alongside them," Tendulkar added.

The 25-year-old Kishan did not turn up for Jharkhand throughout the team's campaign in Ranji Trophy despite not being on national duty after leaving the tour of South Africa in December citing personal reasons. He instead focussed on preparing for the IPL for his franchise Mumbai Indians. Iyer, on the other hand, did not make himself available for Mumbai's Ranji quarterfinal against Baroda after being excluded from the Indian team after the second Test against England. He, however, played Mumbai's Ranji semifinal against Tamil Nadu.

Tendulkar feels the participation of star Indian players turning out for their state teams will also generate more interest in domestic tournaments. "With top notch players participating in domestic tournaments, over a period of time, fans will also start following and supporting their domestic teams much more. Wonderful to see @BCCI give equal priority to domestic cricket."

Mumbai have qualified for their 48th Ranji Trophy final. The 41-time champions will take on either Vidarbha or Madhya Pradesh, who are engaged in a thrilling semifinal, in the summit clash. "The Ranji Trophy semi-finals have been riveting! @MumbaiCricAssoc’s march into the finals was aided by a brilliant batting recovery, while the other semi-final hangs in the balance going into the last day - Madhya Pradesh need 90+ runs to win, Vidarbha need 4 wickets," Tendulkar added.