"If Rohit Sharma plays Ranji games...": MCA's Raju Kulkarni

Former Test pacer and MCA’s CIC chief Raju Kulkarni feels if out-of-form Rohit Sharma can join Mumbai’s Ranji campaign and succeed, it’ll be beneficial for the player himself, reigning domestic champions and Indian cricket overall

As India Test skipper Rohit Sharma’s ponders over his poor show at the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy series (31 runs in three games), former Test pacer and Mumbai Cricket Association’s Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) chief Raju Kulkarni believes his return to the domestic circuit can have triple benefits — to Rohit himself, Mumbai and Team India.

Mumbai third in Elite Group

Ranji Trophy champs Mumbai (22 points), who are third place in the Elite Group ‘A’ led by table-toppers Baroda (27), host second-placed Jammu & Kashmir (23) on January 23 at the MCA-BKC ground and Kulkarni feels Rohit’s presence could be a huge confidence-booster to the team that failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy [50-over tournament] recently.

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Raju Kulkarni

“It will be great if Rohit feels he should play domestic cricket and scores runs and gains confidence. It will be a huge boost to the Mumbai team too. If Rohit plays Ranji games, he will be able to assess what he needs to do to get his form back. Ultimately, he will thus not only be helping himself and Mumbai cricket, but Indian cricket too,” Kulkarni told mid-day on Sunday.

Ranji champions Mumbai began the season on a brilliant note, winning the Irani Cup in October. Last month, the Shreyas Iyer-led outfit emerged champions in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 [SMAT] Trophy. However, in their latest outing, the Mumbai side failed to make it to the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts, finishing third in Group ‘C’.

Former Mumbai captain Kulkarni felt the heavy workload on Mumbai’s bowlers led to the team’s downfall. “There’s no excuse. We should have qualified for the Vijay Hazare knockouts. I blame this on workload [of bowlers], because Mumbai’s season started very early, in September, much before the Irani Cup. So, the workload on the bowlers has been high,” said Kulkarni.

Shardul overloaded

In five Ranji games this season, Mumbai’s premier pacer Shardul Thakur has bowled 129 overs (14 wickets), followed by 35 overs in the SMAT (15 wkts) and 41 overs in Vijay Hazare Trophy (10 wkts). The absence of pacers Tushar Deshpande (undergoing rehab at NCA after surgery on left ankle) and Mohit Avasthi (side strain during SMAT) hurt Thakur too. “It’s not possible for a pacer to play continuously for six months. Had Tushar, Mohit been available, Shardul could have rested,” said Kulkarni. 

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