New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India must ensure the presence of top national team players participate in domestic cricket, said Kapil Dev, adding that to make them available to play, the BCCI mustn’t hesitate to enforce strong measures.

Kapil spoke in reference to Virat Kohli playing in his first Ranji Trophy match in 12 years for Delhi last month while national team skipper Rohit Sharma also turned out in the tournament for Mumbai after seven years.

They were forced to play after BCCI made it mandatory for all their centrally contracted players to play in domestic cricket after India’s 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia.

Kohli and Rohit were heavily criticised for their poor performance throughout the series and feel for low scores on thier Ranji Trophy return.

“If you are talking about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, playing Ranji Trophy after 12 years, how is that right? It does not look good at all. It’s not because they did not perform. Whether they score runs or not, you have to score runs in domestic cricket…So yes, certain strong measures have to be taken,” Kapil said on Cricket Adda Youtube channel, as quoted by PTI.

“But my point is, had we won or had Rohit or Kohli scored runs, would they have played Ranji Trophy? Don’t look at the performances, make the system strong. Whether you score zero or lakhs of runs, play cricket by staying within the system.”

In the wake of India’s abject surrender of the BGT, the BCCI has also put a curb on wives and girlfriends accompanying player on overseas tours.

“Taking your wives on tours is not wrong, but I feel that if the tour is one month, they should not be allowed for the first 20 days so that the players can play together as a team,” the former all-rounder said.

“Similarly, for a three-month campaign, at least for a month players should be left alone with the team.”

‘Bumrah’s injury a problem’

A back injury during the Border-Gavaskar series ruled Jasprit Bumrah out of the Champions Trophy and Kapil said any team would miss such a genuine match-winner, hoping he would return to action soon with renewed vigour.

“The quality of cricket Jasprit Bumrah has played in the last two years has been really impactful and I don’t think any other fast bowler in the world has been able to produce that kind of a performance,” he said.

“Big players like Bumrah, R Ashwin, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan who gave out match winning performances and then to see them getting injured is indeed a problem for any side. I just hope Bumrah returns soon, because a big player is a big player.”