Former Indian star's blunt take on the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from Duleep Trophy

The upcoming Bangladesh Tour of India is set to revive international action for the Indian team after an elongated hiatus of over a month. Moreover, the red-ball series will be India’s first Test series since they hosted England earlier this year. With the WTC Final swiftly approaching, the upcoming Test season holds utmost importance for the teams. While India is sitting atop the current WTC standings, they need to ensure clinical wins against Bangladesh and New Zealand if they want to capitalize on all their chances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia later this year. With all the Test action scheduled for India, the domestic tournament, Duleep Trophy, presents an excellent opportunity for the players to ease back into the format before hitting international action.

While the stern approach applied by the BCCI and India’s new head coach Gautam Gambhir has pushed almost every Indian player of the main circuit into domestic cricket, there still remain some exceptions. The days preceding the Duleep Trophy witnessed players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan finally returning to domestic action in order to regain favor with the BCCI. Moreover, centrally contracted players like Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and others are all set to feature in the red-ball tournament as per the directions by the BCCI. However, the BCCI mandate failed to cover big names like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Suresh Raina talks about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli missing the Duleep Trophy

India’s main pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been exempted from the upcoming series due to injury concerns. Similarly, R. Ashwin has also been given a break to regain his fluidity before the Bangladesh action starts in September. However, it still remains unclear why the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are missing out on the Duleep Trophy. As the discussion over their absences continues, former Indian batter Suresh Raina has weighed in on the topic. The explosive hitter agreed that Kohli and Rohit should have played in the Duleep Trophy but he trusts them to handle the upcoming challenges maturely.

“Yes, they should've played. You see, we haven't played red-ball cricket ever since the IPL ended. Since we're heading towards a crucial Test series, one must play four-day cricket and get used to how the wicket will behave on Day 4. I think they're mature enough to regroup for 4-5 days and start practicing. Sometimes, family time is also important,” Raina said in his latest interaction.

The Duleep Trophy starts on September 5 and is set to overlap with the Bangladesh Tour of India. However, with the series slated to begin just days after the Duleep Trophy’s inception, the performances displayed in the domestic tournament will play a pivotal role in the selection for the upcoming Test season. The start of the Bangladesh vs. India red-ball series on September 19 will mark the onset of an action-packed red-ball schedule for India leading up to the BGT 2024/25.