India’s all-rounder Shardul Thakur has raised concerns over the demanding schedule of the Ranji Trophy, expressing fears that the tight turnaround between matches could lead to player injuries. Thakur, who recently scored a century in the semifinal against Tamil Nadu, emphasized the need for the BCCI to reconsider the schedule for next year’s tournament.
“It’s difficult because we are playing first-class games in a three-day gap – that has never happened in Ranji Trophy season ever,” Thakur said. “The schedule is becoming tighter and tighter. If boys keep playing like this for two more seasons, there will be a lot of injuries across the country.”
Thakur pointed out that in previous years, players had more time between matches in the Ranji Trophy. “When I remember playing Ranji Trophy back in the days, good 7-8 years back, the first three games used to have a three-day break and then it was a four-day break and knockouts were played on five-day breaks,” he said.
“Now this year, we have seen that all the games have been played on a three-day gap. It is extremely tough on domestic players to expect them to play ten games in a row with just a three-days gap if a team makes it to the finals.”
Thakur’s concerns were echoed by Tamil Nadu skipper R Sai Kishore, who agreed that the schedule was particularly challenging for fast bowlers. “Fast bowlers are extra tired because you travel on one day,” Kishore said. “I think that is because there is not enough spacing between the games.”
Thakur also acknowledged that his team, Mumbai, had faced challenges in managing their resources due to the tight schedule. “Mohit (Avasthi) also had an injury in the sixth game,” he said. “He played five games in a row. He had a huge workload because Tushar (Deshpande) was also selected for India A. He was not available. Dhawal (Kulkarni) was playing alternate games, looking at his age and workload. Royston (Dias) is fairly new.”
“He (Mohit) operated a lot in those first five games and then he had an injury so he had to miss a game. I think that is because there is not enough spacing between the games,” Thakur added.
Despite his impressive performance in the Ranji Trophy, Thakur admitted that an international comeback for India is not on the cards at the moment. “I think international comeback is far from now because the Test team is out already for the fifth game (against England) and after this we are going into the IPL,” he said. “It’s far, I am not thinking that far.”
