Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara, who recently retired from international cricket, believes that performance in the domestic circuit should be the main criterion for selection to the national team.
Talking to his ex-teammate Ajinkya Rahane in his own YouTube channel Pujara said: “So, what it suggests is that it is a positive move. Because when domestic players perform well in domestic cricket, they should get a reward.”
“And I believe that this should continue. And the selection of the Indian Test team should be purely based on domestic cricket”, he added.
Karun Nair performed well in the last few domestic seasons and he was awarded with a place in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. Similarly, Anshul Kamboj, Narayan Jagadeesan got their chances in the national team on the basis of their domestic performances. Jagadeesan also featured in the recently concluded test series against West Indies.
Pujara further said, “If we talk about the current team selection, or if we talk about the last 2-3 series, the domestic players who have performed well in Ranji Trophy or domestic cricket, have got an opportunity to play in the Indian squad.”
Rahane backed Pujara’s thoughts and said that playing Test cricket after performing well in the domestic games adds to valuable experience to a player.
“I think you are absolutely right”, he said. “The selection of the Indian Test team should be based on domestic cricket.”
“And I think this value remains. When you come to Test cricket after performing so well in domestic cricket… the value of the Test cap, and the experience of playing Test cricket, is also different”, Rahane concluded.
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