Mohinder Amarnath urges ‘senior players’ to play domestic cricket

Former Indian cricketer Mohinder Amarnath said that senior players, including the likes of MS Dhoni, should play domestic cricket for them to get selected in the national team. This has come after another former Indian cricketer in the legendary Sunil Gavaskar also laid his emphasis on international players’ proving their mettle in the domestic circuit after being dropped from the Indian team.

The 68-year old also spoke about India’s impressive performance in the first Test match against Australia and their chances of winning the second match at the new Perth Stadium. He also threw some light on the Australian team referring to the transition that the team has been going through post the ball-tampering scandal.

Amarnath solicits a change of policy from BCCI

Amarnath felt the need for a policy change from BCCI to have the senior players take part in domestic cricket. He said, “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 in Hindustan Times.

The former selector also added that the board should make senior players, who are not playing for India, compulsorily play domestic cricket and their performances in the same should be one of the yardsticks to measure how good they are.

“The BCCI should make it an eligibility criterion. 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,” he remarked.

‘First Test was fantastic’

Amarnath also talked about the ongoing Test series between India and Australia. “First Test was a fantastic Test match from a cricketing point of view. The only difference was Cheteshwar Pujara. It shows we are here for a thrilling series with advantage India,” he said. When asked about India’s chances in the second Test at Perth, the right-hander said that the nature of the pitch would play a factor.

“If the wicket is doing a bit, some of the batsmen struggle with their technique. It is not how aggressive you play, the key in Test cricket is that only when you leave good deliveries, you occupy the crease for a long time. It is not that they don’t have that in them but they have to adapt,” he remarked.

~ Written by Harikrishnan Sivakumar

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