Gautam Gambhir Wants All Players to Play in Domestic Cricket, Irfan Pathan Furious

After a disappointing performance in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Team India’s Head coach, Gautam Gambhir, expressed his view on players not participating in domestic cricket in a post-match conference. India's former cricketer Irfan Pathan also has a similar view where he said: "India doesn't want superstar culture; India wants team culture,” and questioned when Virat Kohli last played in domestic cricket.

Gambhir said, “I would always like everyone to play domestic cricket. That is how much importance domestic cricket needs to be given, and not only one game,”

 “If they are available, and they have the commitment to play red-ball cricket, everyone should play domestic cricket. It’s as simple as it can get. If you don't give importance to domestic cricket, you will never get the desired players and what you want in Test cricket,” 

Gambhir's strong reaction comes after the team lost the prestigious Border Gavaskar Trophy after a decade. When discussing this, he mainly referred to senior players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and others who haven't played any domestic match for years. When asked directly about Virat and Rohit, he answered, 'They Still Have Hunger.’ while refraining from discussing their future.

“I can't talk about the future of any player. It is up to them as well. But yes, what I can say is that they still have the hunger and passion. They are tough people. Hopefully, they can continue to take Indian cricket forward. But ultimately, as we all know, whatever they plan, it will be in the best interest of Indian cricket,” 

A similar opinion was shared by India's former cricketer Irfan Pathan while talking with Sunil Gavaskar and Jatin Sapru in a post-match show on Star Sport,

 "India doesn't want superstar culture. India wants a team culture. Tell me, when did Virat Kohli play domestic cricket for the last time? Even when he was free,” to which Jatin Sapru answered it was 2012 when Kohli played in domestic cricket for the last time. 

Irfan Pathan talking about Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Superstar culture & domestic cricket impotence. (Star Sports).pic.twitter.com/uOXegP2GZu

— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) January 5, 2025

Pathan continued and said that even after that, the great Sachin Tendulkar also used to play domestic cricket, and he used to play to get the game practice. In the first inning, which is very important in setting up the game, his average is not even 30. Does India deserve this kind of game?

He added that if we give this many chances to a youngster, he also can give at least this kind of performance. At last, he mentioned that, though Virat Kohli has scored a lot of runs for India, this kind of similar dismissals, repeating the same mistakes is disappointing.