Indian cricket seems to be heading towards an overhaul, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) looking to make Ranji Trophy participation mandatory for certain categories of players. The overhaul seems to be in line after the Ishan Kishan fiasco that saw the wicket-keeper batter preferring personal training sessions over playing for his state team, Jharkhand, in the Ranji Trophy. The BCCI reportedly wants to see the likes of Ishan, Krunal Pandya, and Deepak Chahar turn up for the red-ball event. But, no such directive has yet been issued to Hardik Pandya, who also remains focussed on personal training sessions.

When as BCCI official was asked about the reason behind Hardik getting this exception, the explanation came highlighting his injury record and how big a toll red-ball cricket can take on his body.

“We can understand Hardik Pandya’s case as his body can’t take the rigors of red-ball cricket. He can’t withstand the workload of Test cricket and Team India needs him fit for ICC events,” an official told the Times of India.

The BCCI top brass is said to have been annoyed seeing certain players preferring IPL over red-ball cricket. Hence, a strong move by the board is being contemplated that could make playing 3-4 Ranji Trophy matches mandatory for participation in the IPL.

“Some of the other youngsters, whenever you call them, they will cite that they are currently doing physio work. There needs to be a stop somewhere,” remarked a BCCI official to PTI.

“The decision-makers in BCCI are well aware that some players don’t want to play any red-ball cricket,” the official further said.

T20 cricket has taken precedence in many other countries and certain players do seem to be favouring the shortest format over the tradititional red-ball cricket.

Though IPL has helped many cricketers open the gates to the senior Indian national team, the BCCI doesn’t want that to become the norm. Hence, extra steps could be taken in the due to time to give more focus to tournaments like the Ranji Trophy.