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Ranji reflection

The Ranji Trophy Championship is India's premier cricket tournament. Outstanding performances in it ensure a player a place in the Indian Test team. But how much importance do players attach to it once they have donned India colours? A cursory look at the table below shows that some of our leading players - past and present - have hardly played in the tournament after making it to the Test team.

Sunil Gavaskar in Ranji Trophy (season-wise). He has appeared in 66 Ranji matches for Bombay in 18 seasons
Season	Matches	Major tours
1969-70	2
1970-71	2
1971-72	3
1972-73	7
1973-74	6
1974-75	5
1975-76	4
1976-77	7
1977-78	did not play	was touring Australia
1978-79	6
1979-80	7
1980-81	did not play	was touring Australia & New Zealand
1981-82	6
1982-83	did not play	Sri Lanka toured India. India toured Pakistan and West Indies
1983-84	6
1984-85	4
1985-86	did not play	India toured Sri Lanka and Australia
1986-87	1

Mohinder Amarnath in Ranji Trophy (season-wise). He has appeared for various teams in 76 Ranji matches in 22 seasons
Season	Matches	Major tours
(Domestic teams)
1967-68	3
For N Punjab
1968-69	did not play	due to personal reasons
1969-70	4
For Punjab
1970-71	4
1971-72	5
1972-73	4
1973-74	4
1974-75	8
For Delhi
1975-76	3
1976-77	6
1977-78	2
1978-79	4
1979-80	7
1980-81	did not play	was touring Australia & New Zealand
1981-82	7
1982-83	did not play	Sri Lanka toured India. India toured Pakistan and West Indies
1983-84	4
1984-85	3
For Baroda
1985-86	2
For Delhi
1986-87	3
1987-88	2
1988-89	1

Kapil Dev in Ranji Trophy (season-wise). He has appeared for Haryana in just 34 Ranji matches in 19 seasons
Season	Matches	Major tours
1975-76	4
1976-77	6
1977-78	4
1978-79	4
1979-80	4
1980-81	did not play	toured Australia and New Zealand
1981-82	2
1982-83	did not play	Sri Lanka toured India. India toured Pakistan and West Indies
1983-84	1
1984-85	did not play	toured Pakistan, England toured India
1985-86	3
1986-87	did not play	Three teams - Australia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan - were visiting India
1987-88	1
1988-89	did not play	New Zealand toured India, India toured West Indies
1989-90	did not play	was touring Pakistan & New Zealand
1990-91	5
1991-92	did not play	was touring Australia (Test, WSC and World Cup)
1992-93	did not play	was touring Zimbabwe and South Africa. England and Zimbabwe were touring India.
1993-94	did not play	Sri Lanka toured India, India toured New Zealand

Sachin Tendulkar in Ranji Trophy (season-wise). He has appeared for Bombay in only 27 Ranji matches in 12 seasons
Season	Matches	Major tours
1988-89	7
1989-90	did not play	was touring Pakistan & New Zealand
1990-91	4
1991-92	did not play	was touring Australia (Test, WSC and World Cup)
1992-93	did not play	was touring Zimbabwe and South Africa. England and Zimbabwe were touring India.
1993-94	4
1994-95	5
1995-96	3
1996-97	did not play	Australia and South Africa toured India, while India toured S Africa and West Indies.
1997-98	3
1998-99	1
1999-00	has not played as yet this season.

Azharuddin in Ranji Trophy (season-wise). He has appeared in only 31 matches for Hyderabad in the last 19 years.
Season	Matches	Major tours
1981-82	4
1982-83	2
1983-84	4
1984-85	1
1985-86	did not play	touring Sri Lanka and Australia
1986-87	did not play	Three teams - Australia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan - were visiting India
1987-88	1
1988-89	2
1989-90	did not play	was touring Pakistan & New Zealand (was made India captain)
1990-91	1
1991-92	did not play	was touring Australia (Test, WSC and World Cup)
1992-93	did not play	was touring Zimbabwe and South Africa. England and Zimbabwe were touring India.
1993-94	3
1994-95	2
1995-96	2
1996-97	did not play	Australia and South Africa toured India, while India toured S Africa and West Indies.
1997-98	4
1998-99	did not play	Toured New Zealand, Pakistan tour to India and Asian Test Championships
1999-00	5	(played so far this season. The maximum played by him in a season)