Lot of guys representing the country have come up playing domestic cricket, it forms the backbone of international cricket: Rohit Sharma

Star India skipper Rohit Sharma recently came forward to talk about the importance of domestic cricket. The Indian team recently lost their three-game ODI series to Sri Lanka by a 2-0 margin. After the first ODI ended in a tie, India lost the last two games as Sri Lanka won their first bilateral series against them since 1997.

After the loss, Rohit underscored the importance of tournaments like the Ranji Trophy in the selection of the national test team. He also opined that despite the success of IPL, it is crucial for every player to compete in domestic tournaments, as it helps in nurturing talent.

"That's always been our goal - to make sure that guys who are available go and play Ranji Trophy. Our domestic cricket is the backbone of our international cricket. A lot of the guys who are now representing the country have come up playing domestic cricket, so our domestic cricket is crucial for everyone. We want to make sure that it stays competitive," Rohit said at the post-match conference.

"We get players from our domestic circuit, not so much from IPL. When you choose players for Test and ODI cricket, a lot of discussion happens on who is doing well in Ranji Trophy, one-day format, Syed Mushtaq Ali and stuff like that," he added. 

IPL is, of course, one format where the challenges are different: Rohit Sharma

Furthermore, the India skipper talked about the IPL, and highlighted the tournament’s own challenges. He opined that the IPL is also India’s tournament, and one has put in a good performance across every domestic tournament in order to be selected for India. 

"IPL is, of course, one format where the challenges are different. It's a competition of both. IPL is also our cricket - it's Indian Premier League. At the end of the day, whoever does well in all of these tournaments eventually will get picked up," he said.