Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma asked to play domestic one-dayers by BCCI: Report
New Delhi: Amid growing speculation over their ODI futures, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly asked senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to feature in domestic one-day matches if they wish to remain in contention for national selection.
“The board and team management have conveyed to both of them that they will have to play domestic cricket if they want to play for India. As they both have retired from two formats, they have to play domestic cricket to be match-fit,” The Indian Express quoted sources in the board as saying.
Both Kohli and Rohit have stepped away from Tests and T20 Internationals but continue to represent India in ODIs. The first opportunity for their domestic return could come on December 24, during the Vijay Hazare Trophy — the only one-day competition on the calendar between India’s home ODI series against South Africa and New Zealand.
According to the report, Rohit has already informed the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) that he will be available to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Kohli, on the other hand, is yet to clear the status of his availability for the domestic one-day tournament.
BCCI selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar earlier emphasised that players must participate in domestic cricket whenever they are available, noting that consistent match play is essential to staying sharp, especially after extended breaks. “Whether that's possible with the international cricket you're playing or not, only time will tell, but if the guys are free, they should be playing domestic cricket," he had stated.
Kohli (37) and Rohit (38) last appeared in the ODI series in Australia last month, where they combined for a match-winning partnership in the final game. While Rohit struck a century in the third ODI, Kohli bounced back from a slow start to score an unbeaten 74.
Rohit has reportedly shown interest in featuring in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, which begins on November 26, and has been training at Mumbai’s Sharad Pawar Indoor Academy.
Meanwhile, the Indian board is hoping to also see Kohli, who lives in London these days, playing domestic cricket.
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Jai Bhim: Slogan that energised Dalits was first given at this central Maharashtra village
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.
The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.
Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.
Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.
"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.
"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.
As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.
The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.
"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.
"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.
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