India all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who smashed 109 for Mumbai against Tamil Nadu (TN) in the Ranji Trophy semi-final on Sunday, urged the authorities to have a longer gap between first-class games.

Extremely tough

Thakur, 32, reckoned that just a three-day gap between each first-class game affects a cricketer’s workload and recovery period. “It’s difficult because we are playing first-class games with a gap of just three days. That has never happened in the Ranji Trophy season. I remember the first three games having a three-day gap. Then, four days and for knockouts, there was a five-day break. This year we have seen that all the games are played with a three-day gap. It is extremely tough on domestic players to expect them to play 10 games in a row with just three days gap if the team make it to the final. I think next year they [BCCI] will have to re-look and give us more break [days],” said Thakur, who is playing his fourth Ranji game of the season.