The former all-rounder has expressed his opinion on Rahul Dravid’s stance that there is no need for Indian players to play in overseas Leagues. India has a strong domestic circuit and the Indian Cricket Board also organizes so many domestic leagues every year which helps the players to gain enough experience.
Shastri, in a virtual press conference, said, “We should focus on our country rather than looking elsewhere.” Following the 20-20 World Cup 2022 exit, many criticized the board for not allowing the Indian players to play in the overseas leagues, and think that they lack experience in playing on overseas grounds and in different conditions.
If we talk about other countries, the boards have given access to their players to play in the overseas leagues which helps them to gain the experience of playing in different conditions. It also helps them to earn more.
We need to focus on domestic cricket: Shastri
Earlier in a press conference when asked, Dravid said that India can not send their players to play overseas T20 leagues as these leagues are played during India’s domestic season. Dravid also acknowledged that England players had an advantage of playing in BBL which helped them to play in the Australian conditions very well.
“There is enough domestic cricket for all these players to get absorbed in the system and get an opportunity. Plus, you get these India A tours, and you get a lot of these other tours, where at one given time you might have two Indian teams playing in the future, where the opportunity will come for the other lot to go somewhere else whilst India is in another country – to go play and see what you know they can do,” said Shastri.
Following the World Cup exit, India are already eying for the next World Cup as they are set to play against the Kiwis. Hardik Pandya will be leading the team as some senior players have been rested for the tour. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant is named the Vice-Captain of the team.
