In the midst of BCCI’s attempt to ensure that all players under central contract participate in domestic matches, Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma delivered a direct message to youngsters who do not have a strong desire for Test cricket. Ishan Kishan’s refusal to play in Ranji Trophy matches against board directives and Shreyas Iyer’s decision to skip Mumbai’s match despite the National Cricket Academy’s declaration that he is injury-free have generated a lot of talk in recent months. Following India’s victory over England in Ranchi, Rohit responded bluntly when asked if younger players were hungry to play in Test cricket.

“Jin logon ko bhookh hai, hum unhi logon ko mauka denge (We will give opportunities to only those who are hungry),” Rohit declared, making it clear that the team management is not willing to entertain players who do not display a burning desire to perform.

“Agar hunger nahi hai to unko khila ke koi matlab nahi hai (There’s point in playing those who don’t have the hunger),” he said.

“I don’t see anyone in the team here who is not hungry. All the boys who are here and also those who are not, they all want to play. But the thing with Test cricket is that you get very few opportunities. If you don’t utilise them, they go away,” he asserted.

His remarks closely followed a directive from the BCCI to players like Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer to attend Ranji Trophy matches; the two players disregarded the directive.

Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Akash Deep are among the new players who made an impact in the current test match series against England .