The Indian team is under constant scrutiny after their 1-3 series defeat Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. In times of adversity, the individual performances of the players have let the team down time and time again. In such a situation, the cricketing community constantly demands the out-of-form players to shift their focus to domestic cricket where they can work on their fundamentals again and perform for the team.
These demands are not without reason. Amidst the pomp and luxury of playing international and league cricket, particularly the Indian Premier League (IPL)some star players have left their home team far behind. In light of their recent abysmal performances in international cricket, here is a timeline of when the top 5 players in the Indian team last played for their domestic side.
The last appearance of Team India’s top 5 stars in domestic cricket
1. Virat Kohli:
Time runs steadily for Virat Kohliwhose performance with the bat goes from bat to worst. His record in Test cricket was particularly worrying with just 417 runs in 19 innings at a paltry batting average of 24.52. So, there is a growing demand that the former Indian skipper will have to play for Delhi in the near future Ranji Trophy time. The 36-year-old last played for Delhi during the 2012 Ranji Trophy season in the Group D match against Saurashtra.
2. Rohit Sharma:
Rohit Sharma is another star Indian player who has recently had a horror show with the bat. The 37-year-old scored a total of 619 runs in 24 innings at a batting average of 24.76. Moreover, Rohit scored just 31 runs in 5 innings during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which added more concerns about his form. While Rohit was recently spotted attending training with his domestic team Mumbai, he has not featured in a domestic cricket match since November 2015. Rohit’s last match for Mumbai was against Uttar Pradesh in Group B of the Ranji Trophy where he played a remarkable knock of 113 runs.
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3. Ravindra Jadeja:
Ravindra JadejaHis tour of Australia is also not up to the mark and so is the rest of the team. The all-rounder struggled with the bat and failed to make a mark throughout the series with the bowl as well. In such a situation, Jadeja needs to refocus on performing for his home team Saurashtra and return to the Indian team with improved form. The experienced Indian all-rounder played his last domestic match against Tamil Nadu in November 2023.
4. Shubman Gill:
With just 93 runs in 5 innings during BGT 2024-25, Shubman Gill disappointed fans and analysts with the bat. The youngster has not played for India in recent times, causing a huge stir and question marks over his repeated selection in the national team. Gill recently joined the training sessions of his home team, Punjab. The 25-year-old last represented them in the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy Madhya Pradesh in January 2022 and has not featured for Punjab since.
5. KL Rahul:
Apart from the heroics in Brisbane, KL Rahul could not save the Indian batting unit from putting up a disappointing show in their recent tour of Australia. Rahul has been inconsistent with the bat for some time now, and has failed as a top-order batsman to stabilize the Indian innings and convert the built momentum into long innings. Therefore, there is a growing demand that he should focus on domestic cricket and work to regain the temperament of international level cricket. Rahul has not played for his domestic team, Karnataka since March 2020. His last appearance for the domestic team was during the Ranji Trophy semi-finals against Bengal in which Karnataka lost by 174 runs.
