Sunil Gavaskar queries, “Few batters had a forgettable South Africa series.” India’s readiness for the Tests in England

In addition to highlighting how important the Ranji Trophy is for developing talent and regaining form, Sunil Gavaskar also pointed out that a number of batsmen had difficulty in the last Test series against South Africa.   He stated that, given the impending five-match Test series against England beginning on January 25, players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill would have been better advised to choose the domestic first-class championship.

The decision of several Indian hitters to play in the T20I series against Afghanistan rather than the Ranji Trophy was discussed by former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar.

In light of injuries to important white-ball players and the Afghanistan series acting as the last international assignment before the 2024 T20 World Cup, he feels that the Ranji Trophy might have given the batters the platform they needed to improve before the vital England Tests.

In order to prepare for the Test series against England, would it have been preferable for some Indian batters to have participated in a few Ranji Trophy matches? With the exception of Virat Kohli, who batted brilliantly but fell short of a century, and KL Rahul, who produced one of the best Test centuries ever witnessed in the first Test match in Centurion, the other Indian batsmen had a forgettable four innings in South Africa. Naturally, we’ll find out in the upcoming weeks if they ought to have played a Ranji Trophy match or the T20 internationals against Afghanistan “Gavaskar stated in his Sportstar column.

For their Test series against England, Team India will reassemble in Hyderabad.

India’s head coach, Rahul Dravid, has stated that the team would begin training camp in Hyderabad on January 20 in order to be ready for the crucial Test series against England. The announcement was made following India’s exciting victory in a Double Super against match in Bengaluru on January 17th, where they triumphed against Afghanistan in their Twenty20 International series.

After a quick two days off, the Test regulars who participated in the T20I series—captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan—will reassemble in Hyderabad. Having overcome obstacles at the start of the tournament, these players are critical to India’s efforts to advance in the 2023–25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, with an eye toward the forthcoming home Test series against England.