Rahul Dravid admitted India’s players being forbidden to feature in domestic T20 tournaments abroad might have contributed to their World Cup elimination.
India have now lost the last four World Cup semi-finals they have played in – two apiece in T20s and ODIs – after being battered by 10 wickets by England, who will take on Pakistan in Sunday’s showpiece at the MCG.
Central to England’s thumping victory at the Adelaide Oval was Alex Hales, who clobbered 86 not out off 47 balls and put even Jos Buttler in the shade at times during their successful pursuit of 169.
Hales is a regular on the T20 franchise circuit and has considerable experience in Australia’s Big Bash League, while the likes of India stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma can only play in the Indian Premier League.
Dravid, the former India captain and now head coach, said: “There’s no doubt about it, the fact that England, a lot of their players have come here and played. In this tournament, it certainly showed.
“I think a lot of our boys maybe do miss out on the opportunities of playing in a lot of these leagues.”
India’s finances bankroll much of the modern cricketing landscape but next year marks a decade since they last went all the way at an International Cricket Council event, when they claimed victory at the 2013 Champions Trophy.
But Dravid feels the consequences of allowing players to be involved in overseas T20 tournaments such as the BBL would have the knock-on effect of damaging India’s first-class structure.
Dravid, who accepted India had been “outplayed” and “outclassed” by England, added: “You’d see a lot of our boys being asked to play leagues right bang in the middle of our season.
“If you allowed all the Indian players to play in these leagues, we would not have domestic cricket.
“Our domestic trophy, our Ranji Trophy, would be finished and that would mean Test cricket would be finished.”
