Playing 10 Ranji games with three-day gap is tough: Shardul

MUMBAI: India and Mumbai all-rounder Shardul Thakur on Sunday said that the BCCI will have to relook next year’s Ranji Trophy schedule as playing 10 matches with just three-day gaps between games could lead to injuries to players.

Thakur said it’s difficult for players to adjust to the three-day gap between knockout matches, which was not the case earlier.

“It’s difficult because we are playing first-class games in (a) three days’ gap — that has never happened in Ranji Trophy season ever,” Thakur told the media here after making a fine century in the semifinal against Tamil Nadu.

“You know the schedule is becoming tighter and tighter. If boys keep playing like this for two more seasons, there will be a lot of injuries across the country.

“Next year, they (the BCCI) have to re-look at it and give more break,” he added. He said a few years ago players got more days in between matches in Ranji Trophy.

“When I remember playing Ranji Trophy back in the days, good 7-8 years ago, (the) first three games used to have (a) three-day break and then it was (a) four-day break and knockouts were played on five-day breaks.

“Now this year, we have seen that all the games have been played on (a) three-day gap. It is extremely tough on domestic players to expect them to play ten games in a row with just (a) three-days gap if (a) team makes it to the finals.

“Also, when nine teams were in the group, one team would get a break in (the) round-robin system. Now only eight teams being in one group, everyone plays each other, so that break has gone now,” Thakur added.

Thakur backed his statement by citing the example of his team Mumbai, which has had to juggle between available resources.

He agreed that the current scheduling has not left enough time for the pacers to recover.