Are India’s cricket stars avoiding First-Class and List A games? How this growing trend could be hurting the Indian Cricket?
In January 2025, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) mandated that all centrally contracted players must feature in domestic cricket whenever they are not on international duty. Then ODI captain Rohit Sharma publicly backed the move during the Champions Trophy 2025 squad announcement, calling it a necessary step to keep players match ready.
“You do get that time when you finish the IPL, and if there’s nothing happening right after that. But if you see our domestic season, it starts in October – maybe September – and it gets over by February-March. So, guys who are not playing certain formats and have time, and then there is domestic cricket happening, then they will play,” Rohit told the reporters.
Nearly four months later, the Nagpur-born announced his Test retirement. In the same scenario, he had the chance to feature in the white-ball domestic event before the ongoing Australia trip. But did he follow his own words?
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Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma continue to avoid India’s domestic cricket
Prior to MS Dhoni’s captaincy era, India’s top cricketers did go back to First Class cricket more regularly. During Dhoni’s time, however, returning to domestic cricket became an exception rather than a norm for India’s star cricketers. It was not the case that Dhoni didn’t feature in domestic games at all, but the appearances were few and far in between. He did turn up for Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017-18 after facing much criticism from various quarters.
Both Rohit and Kohli, the former captains, have walked in that path. They played their last competitive cricket during IPL 2025 in early June, while their last ODI game was Champions Trophy 2025 final nearly seven months ago.
Before their trip down under for three ODIs, Kohli and Rohit had a great chance to spend time in the middle. They could have regained match rhythm by featuring in the India A vs Australia A series, but both declined and the rust showed especially in the first ODI in Perth.
Rohit Sharma failed for eight runs after getting an outside edge into the slip region in Perth. The opening batter looked a bit rusty, trying to clear the rope with the aggressive shots.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli failed to open his account during his eight-ball stay. India’s number three was early on the drive as the leading edge carried into the hands of the backward point. In the following game in Adelaide, he got beaten on the inside edge and was trapped before the stumps against Xavier Bartlett.
At their age when both veterans are in their late 30s, rhythm and reflexes fade faster- making regular match practice all the more crucial. Moreover, the hand-eye coordination starts to deteriorate with age.
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Star players must lead by example in domestic cricket
In the last couple of years, the number of ODIs in a series has gone down. There is not much interest in the format. In the past, the boards used to even host seven-match ODI series but that’s not the case anymore. West Indies recently played India in a two-match away series, while England featured in a five-match red-ball series at home. None of those series contained any 50-over fixture.
So, for one-format players like Kohli and Rohit, domestic cricket is the only solution to stay fit and in form. In state games, the luxury is not the same as international games but it helps the players to find their mojo back.
The importance of playing domestic games isn’t for regular players like Shubman Gill. India’s current ODI and Test captain is featuring across formats continuously. So, he will anyway remain in touch with the bat.
Most youngsters follow these superstars like Kohli and Rohit. And if they start to dodge the domestic games, then in the future, it will be the same case with the young players. All of these will result in Indian cricket’s decline at some point.
No one is taking away the legacy that the Delhi-born and Mumbai-born have set in the last 15 years. But it’s also about looking into the future and taking responsibilities of the side.
Irrespective of how they perform in Sydney in the ongoing series against Australia, they must return to domestic cricket. India’s next 50-over series will be against South Africa at home starting on November 30. After the end of the ODI leg on December 06, there will be a break of more than one month before the next 50-over series against New Zealand.
In that one month, both Kohli and Rohit can feature in at least six rounds of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 starting on December 24. Those games will help them immensely to stay in touch. After all, they won’t have the same opportunity in the near future to play ODIs again after the Kiwi series. India’s next ODI series will be in July against England after T20 World Cup 2026 in February-March followed by the IPL 2026 till June.
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