Virat Kohli, KL Rahul faked injury to skip Ranji Trophy? Sunil Gavaskar exposes 'child's play'

In a surprising twist ahead of the final round of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25, legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar sent a strong warning to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over their latest 10-point diktat for all the national players.

After BCCI made it mandatory for all Indian players to take part in domestic cricket to be eligible for central contracts and get selected in the Indian cricket team, several internal stars, including Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, turned up for Mumbai.

Sunil Gavaskar warns BCCI about easing injury protocols for Indian players missing Domestic Cricket

However, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were not available for their respective Delhi and Karnataka teams for the previous match in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 due to minor injuries. However, Kohli joined the Delhi team ahead of their Group D match against the Railways in Delhi, starting on January 30.

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On the other hand, KL Rahul is also set to play for Karnataka in their Group C match against Haryana at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. However, both Virat and Rahul won’t be able to play in the knockouts due to the ODI series against England and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Ahead of their much-awaited comeback, Sunil Gavaskar has raised serious concerns over the BCCI's latest stance on the players’ participation in domestic cricket. With Indian players increasingly opting to skip domestic matches under the guise of injuries, the former Indian captain and legendary batter has questioned how they are easily obtaining medical certificates.

Getting a medical certificate for an ‘injury’ is child’s play: Sunil Gavaskar slams Virat Kohli, KL Rahul

Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar: “More interesting would be what action the BCCI takes if they don’t play. Were they injured? Getting a medical certificate for an ‘injury’ is child’s play, and if they are injured, did they go to the NCA for treatment and recovery, as Nitish Reddy was sent the moment he had that side strain?”

The cricket pundit has also warned the BCCI to closely monitor this trend and suggested that any player skipping a game for injury should report directly to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for a proper assessment to ensure the integrity of domestic cricket remains intact.

Sunil Gavaskar signed off by saying, “Isn’t that the practice for the BCCI-contracted players, that as soon as there’s an injury, they have to report to the NCA, and only after the BCCI experts there certify them as fit can they resume playing for India? For all we know, these players might have opted out of the earlier games for non-injury reasons. We shall soon find out.”

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Mumbai's international stars to miss the next Ranji Trophy 2024-25 round

Notably, Indian captain Rohit Sharma, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer will not be part of the next round of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 group stage as they will gear up for the three-match ODI series against England.

All these players were part of Mumbai’s squad for their previous game against Jammu and Kashmir. They will now be joining the national camp for England ODIs in the lead-up to the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which is set to get underway on February 19 in Pakistan.