First-class cricket can become five-day cricket, getting results in four days difficult: Ajinkya Rahane

India cricketer Ajinkya Rahane has voiced his thoughts in favour of having five-day first-class matches. At present, the first-class cricket matches are four-day games. Rahane suggested that each game should be result-oriented and playing first-class games over a periood of five days would almost "guarantee" results.

Rahane's comments come after Mumbai failed to qualify for the Ranji Trophy knockout stage. He said that obtaining results from flat decks in four days is quite difficult and can affect the result of any match and fate of teams in domestic competitions.

“First Class cricket can become five-day cricket. We play Test matches over five days and in five days the possibility of a result is almost guaranteed. You will get more results. Every game should be result-oriented,” the 34-year-old was quoted by Sportstar.

Five-day games will develop better future Test cricketers: Ajinkya Rahane

The right-handed batter emphasised firmly that it is important to have the five-day format in all stages of first-class cricket to ensure fair results. Rahane also reckoned that cricketers would be able to learn about the tough five-day scenarios right from their early days and that would definitely prepare them for future challenges.

“In four-day games, you don’t really get results on flat decks. We tried to get as many results as possible but it became challenging. In five-day cricket, that will happen more frequently. I don’t know how it can fit into the calendar but five-day cricket will make domestic cricketers get used to the rigours of First Class cricket.

"If you play out a session, you can save a match in four-day games but if you are made to slog for three more sessions, it will give them a better opportunity to develop better Test cricketers. It can automatically be carried forward into international cricket. How to survive sessions, how to bowl disciplined, all these factors can be taken care of if we play all Ranji Trophy games over five days." he concluded.

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