Page 2 - Cricket News Today: Chris Woakes pulls out of IPL, Rahul Dravid held responsible for Ishant Sharma's injury and more

#2 BCCI official blames Rahul Dravid for recurrence of Ishant Sharma’s injury

In January, Ishant Sharma injured his ankle while representing Delhi in a Ranji Trophy fixture against Vidarbha. Subsequently, several expected the fast-bowler to be sidelined for India’s tour to New Zealand. However, contrary to those notions, the pacer recovered swiftly and participated in the 1st Test against the Black Caps.

Post that though, Ishant experienced pain in his ankle, meaning that he missed the subsequent game at the Hagley Oval. In the process, countless questions were raised of the NCA, who had initially cleared the fast-bowler for competitive action.

And, on Friday, a BCCI official came out and stated that Rahul Dravid, courtesy his role as the head of the academy, needed to shoulder responsibility for the gaffe.

It would be interesting to see what are the changes in the scan reports when he was declared fit and the ones taken now. Look, Dravid is one of the most respected players we have but administration is objective and ruthless.

He further elaborated,

Since Rahul is apparently the primary decision maker at the NCA, it would therefore only be natural that he should take responsibility for the processes and decisions.

Read the full article here: BCCI official says Rahul Dravid should take responsibility for NCA blunders after Ishant Sharma injury

#3 Ravindra Jadeja denied permission to play Ranji Trophy Final

A week ago, Ravindra Jadeja was part of the Indian side that featured against the Kiwis at Christchurch. A few days later, his state team, Saurashtra got the better of Gujarat to book their place in the Ranji Trophy final.

Thus, the all-rounder was confronted with the perennial ‘state versus country’ dilemma, especially considering he was also named in the Men In Blue’s squad to face South Africa in a three-match ODI series slated to commence on the 12th of March.

Unfortunately for Saurashtra though, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly denied their request, thereby maintaining that ‘country always comes first’. On the decision, Jaydev Shah, the president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association quipped,

I spoke to him [Ganguly] and was told that the board can’t allow Jadeja to play Ranji as country comes first.

Additionally, Jaydev opened up on how the disallowance might prove counterproductive in the BCCI’s efforts to popularize the highest tier of domestic competition in India.

Ranji Trophy can only be popularised if star players play at least in the finals. Don’t keep any international cricket during finals, have a proper window. I would have loved to see him (Jadeja) play the Ranji Trophy final for us, why only Jadeja, I would have loved to see Mohammed Shami (for Bengal) also.

Read the full article here: Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Ravindra Jadeja denied permission to take part in the final