Amarnath slams Dhoni and others for skipping Ranji Trophy

Amarnath slams Dhoni and others: Former World Cup winner wants the senior players to play domestic cricket for their respective states.

Former India batsman Mohinder Amarnath wants limited-overs specialists to play the ongoing season of the Ranji Trophy. Amarnath’s comments were chiefly pointed to the likes of former India captain and current wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni, opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Dhoni, who last played for India during the ODI series against Windies earlier this year, hasn’t played any competitive cricket since then. On the other hand, Dhawan and Chahal had last played during the T20I against Australia.

While Dhoni has been spotted in India, the other two have stayed back in Australia since the T20I series. Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by Royal Stag in collaboration with the ICC, Amarnath said that the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) should change this policy.

“Every individual is different but one thing I have always believed in is that if you want to play for India you have to play for your state as well. I think they [BCCI] should change this policy altogether. A lot of senior players don’t play domestic cricket,” Amarnath was quoted as saying to PTI.

Dhoni had earlier expressed his views regarding him not wanting to play for Jharkhand at the price of a youngster’s place in the side. With him no longer playing Test cricket, it is another reason why he doesn’t play the Ranji Trophy.

Having said that, Amarnath opined that the same shouldn’t happen even if a player doesn’t play that format at the highest level.

“The BCCI should make it an eligibility criteria. Not only a number of games, you should be playing regularly for your state if you are not playing for India and not only just before the India selection. Then only you can judge how good the guy is playing.

“Whatever you have achieved is all in the past. What is important is current form. Even if you are playing one format, you should be playing all formats at least in domestic cricket to be considered for selection,” the 68-year old said.

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