Shubman Gill Urges Indian Test Regulars to Play Ranji Trophy for Red-Ball Preparation

Shubman Gill had encouraged Indian Test regulars to feature in the Ranji Trophy to ensure better preparation for red-ball cricket ahead of future Test series.

India’s Test captain Shubman Gill was set to represent Punjab in the Ranji Trophy 2025–26 Elite Group B match against Saurashtra in Rajkot from January 22, and he had strongly advocated for Indian Test regulars to participate in domestic red-ball cricket.

Gill expressed his desire for players in India’s Test setup to play at least one Ranji Trophy match before joining their respective Indian Premier League (IPL) teams for the 2026 season. Apart from Gill, Test opener KL Rahul, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, and Nitish Kumar Reddy were also expected to turn out for their domestic sides in the second half of the Ranji Trophy, which began on January 22. However, Test opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who represents Mumbai in domestic cricket, was not available for selection.

According to a report in The Times of India, Gill felt that the absence of international Test matches until August made it even more important for regulars to stay in touch with red-ball cricket through domestic competitions.

Gill, while speaking to reporters ahead of the India–New Zealand ODI series, highlighted the importance of adequate preparation time before Test assignments, especially when transitioning between formats.

“One of the suggestions that I was very keen on is, if you would see in the last two Test series that we played, we didn’t have that much time to prepare,” Gill said.

“It’s not easy playing another match in a different country and then playing in India on the fourth day. Especially when you’re travelling on long tours. I think it’s important to at least have some bit of preparation, some time. Especially when changing from white-ball format to red-ball. So this was one of the things that I was very keen on, and I think we’ll take some action, and we’ll keep it in mind to be able to prepare well before the start of any red-ball series,” he added.

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Gill, who captains both India’s Test and ODI teams, was not included in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. The 26-year-old right-handed batter from Punjab featured for India in the 2025 Asia Cup, the away series against Australia, and the home series against South Africa, but he was unable to make a significant impact with his performances.

By pushing for greater participation in the Ranji Trophy, Gill underlined the value of domestic cricket in building match readiness and maintaining standards in India’s red-ball setup.