NEW DELHI: Former Indian legend Ravichandran Ashwin has come out with a strong response following Bihar’s record-breaking run fest against Arunachal Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
While applauding the batters for their achievements, Ashwin flagged a deeper concern, stating that such a massive mismatch between teams is not ideal for the health of India’s domestic structure.
Praise for Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s knock
Ashwin was quick to acknowledge the brilliance of Bihar skipper Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who led the carnage with a sensational 190 off just 84 balls.
As Ashwin put it, “Huge applause for Vaibhav Suryavanshi. If you get a big score, even in your neighbourhood, it is still a big score. A double hundred is a double hundred, anywhere.”
Concern over lop-sided contests
However, Ashwin stressed that the bigger issue goes beyond personal achievements. He pointed out that the visible gap in quality between certain teams makes contests heavily one-sided, which defeats the purpose of competitive domestic cricket.
“There is a huge divide, chalk and cheese, in terms of quality with some teams. It becomes very lop-sided and there is no contest at all. It is not an ideal contest,” Ashwin said.
Impact on developing teams
The former off-spinner also raised a crucial question about the long-term consequences for emerging sides like Arunachal Pradesh.
“If we are serious about teams like Arunachal Pradesh becoming good sides, what will this do to their confidence?” he remarked, underlining the need for structural balance and support rather than demoralizing results.
Bihar rewrote the record books in their opening fixture, piling up a staggering 574 for six, the highest team total ever recorded in List A cricket.
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