Here's why Indian players are missing Ranji Trophy matches
Team India's medical team reportedly has asked national players such as Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube and Mayank Agarwal to not play the ongoing round of the Ranji Trophy.
Before this was revealed, these players were on the receiving end of some criticism for giving the Ranji Trophy match a miss.
The BCCI's medical team, which includes trainer Nick Webb and physio Nitin Patel, has advised the trio to rest citing better workload management.
"Team India's medical team monitors the workload of all the players in the side. Iyer and Dube were asked to rest as per its advice. Mayank has played two games so far, but he needs to rest a bit now because then he will leave with the India A team for New Zealand on January 10.
Whenever a player is asked to rest from domestic games, skipper Virat Kohli, coach Ravi Shastri and chief selector MSK Prasad are informed about it," a quote revealed in an interview with Times of India.
The source went on to add that when the players are asked to rest, they can go to the extent of training for a week but cannot play any match. Since the Indian team has a long season ahead, the management needs to strike a balance for the players in order to keep them fresh during the international series.
The entire issue became major when Indian spearhead Jaspirt Bumrah did not play for his state Gujarat recently in the domestic tournament. Bumrah, who was supposed to prove match fitness by playing for Gujarat, was apparently asked to rest instead by none other than BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly.
The Indian team's first assignment of 2020 is a three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series at home against Sri Lanka, which is scheduled to begin on Jan. 5 in Guwahati. The other games will be played in Indore and Pune. After Sri Lanka, Team India will host the Australians for three One-Day Internationals (ODIs). The last time, Aaron Finch and Co toured India for the limited-overs series, the hosts ended on the losing side in both T20I and ODI series.