“Shows how important it is” – Sunil Gavaskar on significance of Ranji Trophy as several India batters flop against England in first two Tests

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar stressed on the importance of the Ranji Trophy as several Indian batters flopped in the first two Tests against England, especially in the second Test at Vizag. The 74-year-old said the players should’ve played a couple of first-class games to prepare for the ongoing five-match Test series.

The comments come as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill starred with the bat in the first and second innings, respectively, but other batters failed to play big knocks.

Gavaskar wrote in his recent Mid-Day column:

“What [When] the batters’ failure to get big runs also shows how important it is before a Test match series for both batters and bowlers to play some first-class [Ranji] games and get themselves in the right frame of mind for the longer format of the game.”

The cricketer-turned-commentator continued:

“The Ranji Trophy had started, and it would have been perfect timing for the batters to get into the groove for the Test series by playing a couple of games.”

India captain Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer have failed to score a half-century in four innings against England so far. Having said that, Iyer had played an FC game for Mumbai ahead of the Test series.

“Unforgettable innings from Ollie Pope and now from young Jaiswal” – Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar further expressed his delight at seeing Yashasvi Jaiswal deliver with the bat by scoring a double century to help India win the second Test by 106 runs and level the five-match Test series 1-1.

England vice-captain Ollie Pope had earlier played a match-defining knock against India by scoring 196 in the first Test in Hyderabad, which the visitors won by 28 runs.

Gavaskar wrote in the same column as above:

“Test cricket is a five-day format, and while most Test matches finish well within that and often with a day or so to spare, as was seen by the unforgettable innings from Ollie Pope and now from young Jaiswal, there is scope to play a match-defining and game-changing innings.”

India and England will next lock horns in the third Test in Rajkot from February 15.