‘Foreign Players in Ranji Trophy’: Former India Batter Offers Unique Suggestion to Make Team No.1 in Test Cricket

Ex-Indian batter Navjot Singh Sidhu has come up with a surprising suggestion. He wants BCCI to allow the participation of four to five foreign players in each Ranji Trophy team like the Indian Premier League (IPL). According to him, this can uplift the domestic players’ performances similar to IPL.

“We have been doing well in white-ball formats because of IPL. India have managed to find match-winners and our bench strength is strong. However, we still lack in Test cricket and lost to New Zealand at home and then in Australia. I have a suggestion to improve our performances in red-ball format. The BCCI should allow four or five foreign players in each Ranji Trophy team, and let me tell you, this would help us. We would become number one in Test cricket. In IPL, our players play alongside overseas cricketers, which has helped them. This could be tried in Ranji Trophy”, stated the cricketer-turned-commentator.

Team India Concerns in Tests

India has been immensely successful in white-ball cricket since the home ODI World Cup in 2023. Barring the final, the team was unbeaten throughout the tournament. Since then, the Men in Blue have repeated their extraordinary form in consecutive ICC events to lift the T20 WC in Barbados last year and the Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai.

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In contrast, the Test team has seen some new lows as they lost the Border-Gavaskar Series on Australian soil by 3-1 even after leading it 1-0 after the first Test. This loss shattered India’s chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June 2025. This is the first time that India will not be playing in the WTC final after they made it twice, in 2021 and 2023, but finished as the runners-up both times.

Previously, India also suffered their first-ever whitewash in a three-match home Test series in November 2024 to New Zealand by 3-0.

India will next play England in a five-match away Test series starting from June 20 in Headingley.

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