India, Oct. 27 -- Over the past two years, the BCCI has taken significant steps to prioritise domestic cricket, even warning centrally contracted players that they could face penalties if they skip domestic fixtures while not on national duty. The move even prompted star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to return to the Ranji Trophy last season, following their underwhelming outing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

While the initiative was first pushed by former BCCI secretary Jay Shah, the current selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, along with head coach Gautam Gambhir, has strongly backed the approach. They have repeatedly reminded players that to stay in contention across formats, participation in domestic cricket and India A m...