Indian stalwart Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will not be considered for the upcoming T-20I series against New Zealand, report suggests.
In the post match press-conference of second T-20I, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has dropped a major hint to the fact that Indian team has moved on from the senior stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik in the shortest format of the game.
Currently, the Indian team is playing against Sri Lanka with their young team led by Hardik Pandya. It was a major and drastic change in the T-20I setup after the embarrassing defeat of team India in T-20I world cup semi-final against England in November.
“For us, obviously, from the last semi-final (in the T20 World Cup) that we played against England, only 3-4 boys are playing in the XI (against Sri Lanka). We are slightly in a different stage of looking at the next cycle of T20, so ours is a slightly younger team and for us to play against the quality of Sri Lanka is a fantastic experience. The good thing is that a lot of focus is on the ODI World Cup and World Test Championship, so the T20s give us the opportunity to try out these guys,” said Indian head coach Rahul Dravid at the post-match conference of the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Pune.
The 49-year-old coach didn’t take their names but categorically mentioned that the management was “looking at the next cycle of T20” players, who could serve the nation for a long time in the shortest format of the game.
Last night, In the second T-20I, Sri Lanka smashed India in a nail-biting match by 16 runs. Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel and Dashun Sanaka were the key players last night with their brilliant efforts in the game. Indian bowlers were not up to mark as they conceded many extra runs in the form of No ball.
Within the last couple of days, a report surfacing in the media claims that BCCI is not considering Indian stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the upcoming T-20I series against New zealand. But, after the press conference of Rahul Dravid, It seems that the reports circulating in the media are going to be true.
Rohit and Virat return in ODI
The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul will return to the side for the three-match ODI series starting on January 10 against Sri Lanka. Rohit is set to lead the side while Virat will continue as an integral member of the team in the 50-over format leading up to the 2024 ODI World Cup. After the downfall in the form, KL Rahul faces a tough fight to retain his spot in a middle-order of ODI setup with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, and even Rishabh Pant. Rahul also lost his vice-captaincy role in the ODI format as Hardik Pandya is going to assist with Rohit as his deputy.
Currently, Virat and Rohit are the leading T-20I runs scorer in the format. Rohit is one of the best destructive openers in all the formats of the game. Indian Skipper is also the 2nd most sixes hitter in International cricket after Chris Gayle.
Both Rohit and Kohli have a dedicated fan base who want to see them in action all the time but this statement from Dravid may leave them angry and disappointed.
Despite all the outrage, it seems like management has made up their mind. Only time will decide if this decision to ignore two of the biggest match-winners of the modern era dynamic is a masterstroke or a disaster.
