Indian veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have opted to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season. The former blitzed with a century in the opening game for Mumbai in Jaipur against Sikkim, and later scored a ton at the Centre of Excellence against Andhra Pradesh in the first round and scored 61-ball 77 against Gujarat in the 2nd. Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra, on his YouTube channel, said the presence of Rohit and Kohli has elevated the playing levels of the competition.
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“Rohit and Kohli have scored runs, and they had to score runs. One scored in Jaipur and the other in the COE (Centre of Excellence). One demolished Sikkim and the other made Andhra’s rail, which was nice to see. Suddenly, domestic cricket became a part of the conversation,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“If Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma go, they are going to score a lot of runs. It’s not like they were going to struggle, and it’s not like they won’t be selected if they don’t score runs here, but the moment they go, the level gets elevated. You suddenly become a point of discussion in mainstream news, and that’s what you want,” he added.
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However, Chopra also questioned the value of runs that are being scored at the domestic level. “Everyone is scoring hundreds. 400 is being chased somewhere and 560-plus is being scored somewhere else. It’s a serious question. What about the standard? So many runs have been scored. Do you actually value the runs then? If 550-plus runs are being scored and 300 runs are being chased in 30 overs, that’s not good,” he said.
“Actually, it’s a poor reflection. It happened after the Lodha committee, when so many states were added. Teams were added, but the infrastructure and the road from bottom to top weren’t prepared. It was a flawed system. The gap is phenomenal,” Chopra observed.
