Zaheer Khan and Ravi Shastri oppose Indian players' participation in foreign T20 leagues

Indian players disappointed after WC Semifinal loss [Source: AP]

After India's shambolic T20 World Cup exit, many cricket pundits, including the head coach Rahul Dravid, advised the BCCI to allow the Indian players to participate in foreign T20 leagues. According to them, this move will enable the Indian players to acclimatise to alien conditions, helping them evolve their performances in the ICC events conducted overseas. 

However, legendary former cricketers Zaheer Khan and Ravi Shastri believe that Indian players don't need to play in overseas leagues. 

While Shastri reckoned India's domestic structure and the IPL to be enough to prepare the players for all conditions, Zaheer opined that India already have a robust bench strength, which can give them three different teams to compete at the highest level simultaneously. 

"There is enough domestic cricket for all these players to get absorbed in the system and get an opportunity. Plus, you get these India A tours, you get a lot of these other tours, where at one given time you might have two Indian teams playing in the future. So there’s no need [to play in overseas leagues], they’re absolutely fine playing IPL cricket and focusing on domestic cricket. We need them to play domestic cricket in India as well," Shastri said. 

"It’s not about playing only franchise cricket, it’s about going to different countries to learn things. That is something which is important, and you’ve seen with BCCI, with their shadow tours, I think those processes are well in place. What you have domestically right now is also a robust structure. So why depend on others? And you look at our bench strength as well, you can virtually play three line-ups, and they will be able to compete at any level," Zaheer commented. 

Meanwhile, India are slated to play three T20Is and ODIs against New Zealand from November 18 to 30. 

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