Zaheer and Shastri say that there is no reason for Indian players to play in leagues outside of India.

In agreement with Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan and Ravi Shastri have stated that it is unnecessary for Indian players to participate in foreign leagues. They argue that “we should focus on our country rather than looking beyond” because of the solid foundation that already exists within it.

Some people believe that Indian cricketers are at a disadvantage to their foreign-born counterparts because they are prohibited from playing in abroad leagues like Australia’s Big Bash League and England’s Hundred. After India lost to England by ten wickets in the semi-finals of the most recent Twenty20 World Cup, the debate became more heated.

Dravid conceded after the game that the BBL experience of some England players may have helped them better gauge the ground dimensions in Adelaide, the venue of the semi-final. He did note, however, that most T20 competitions take place during India’s domestic season, making it tough for Indian players to participate in abroad leagues. Given the international acclaim enjoyed by many Indian athletes, their presence could have a negative effect on domestic cricket.

Zaheer, a long-time member of the Mumbai Indians’ coaching staff who was recently promoted to the role of global head of cricket development by the franchise, was confident that India possessed the means to consistently turn out quality players who could succeed in a variety of environments and competitions.

“In my opinion, there are many procedures in place. Not everything can be learned from playing for a single franchise; sometimes you have to travel to other countries. Zaheer said this in an interaction with Prime Video before India’s first T20I against New Zealand in Wellington on Friday: “That is something which is important, and you’ve seen with BCCI, with their shadow tours, I think those processes are well in place.

To be honest, I can’t think of anything else that would entice players to travel to a certain tournament at the moment. What you have built here at home is solid, too. Why rely on other people then? We have more than enough resources to develop talented athletes. And when you consider the depth of our bench, you can field three different starting lineups that each hold their own against any opponent.

There has been an uptick in India A tours in recent years, and Shastri believes that the players are getting enough game time between the Indian Premier League and other domestic tournaments and these tours.

Domestic cricket provides “enough opportunity for all these players to get absorbed in the system,” as Shastri put it. “Plus, you get these India A tours, you get a lot of these other tours, where at any given time you might have two Indian teams playing, and in the future, the opportunity will come for the other lot to go somewhere else while India is in another country – to go play, and see what you know they can do.

They are doing just fine playing IPL cricket and concentrating on domestic cricket, so there is no reason for them to play in overseas leagues. We require their participation in India’s domestic cricket leagues.