The return of senior cricketers like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to domestic cricket has excited fans and experts alike. However, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has voiced his disappointment over the early exits of several players after just one round of matches in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25.

During the sixth round of matches, senior players such as Rohit, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, and Ravindra Jadeja displayed their talents for their teams. Unfortunately, aside from Jadeja, all these players are missing from the ongoing seventh round.

On a positive note, senior batsman Virat Kohli, who missed the previous round due to a neck injury, is now playing for Delhi against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Likewise, KL Rahul has returned for the seventh round after sitting out the last one due to a minor injury.

Chopra has criticized this pattern, suggesting it creates the impression that some players see participation in the Ranji Trophy as a form of punishment.

"Virat Kohli is playing, but many others are not, like Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal or Shreyas Iyer. Ultimately, all the players have played their token Ranji Trophy match, marked their attendance and left," Chopra said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

"Virat Kohli hadn't played that round, so he is playing now. What does it tell you? This (playing Ranji Trophy) was a bit of a punishment posting. But playing first-class cricket shouldn't be a punishment, it should be a privilege," he added.

Rahul made a strong comeback to the Ranji Trophy after being away for five years. Playing for Karnataka, the 32-year-old batsman was unfortunately out for 26 runs, dismissed by Anshul Kamboj on the first day of the tournament.

At the same time, an impressive 28,000 fans gathered at the Arun Jaitley Stadium to see Kohli take on Railways. However, the excited crowd could only watch the legendary cricketer in the field throughout the day. Both Rahul and Kohli are key players for India's team in the upcoming three-match ODI series against England, which is set to begin on February 6th.