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Cricket Players‘Rohit ko England kyun bheja? Only to play limited-overs?’: Ex-India cricketer questions frequent 'resting' policy
What irked fans more was BCCI's decision to rest Rohit, Kohli and other seniors from the West Indies ODIs that are slated to follow the limited-overs series against England. The absence of Rohit and Kohli has been so prominent in recent times that India have had seven captains in the last nine months.
Former India pacer Karsan Ghavri was not at all pleased with the frequent rests that top Indian cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have taken ever since last year's T20 World Cup. Out of the 25 international matches that India have played across formats in 2022 so far, Rohit and Kohli have together featured in only 12 of those. Both Rohit and Kohli were absent from the five-match T20I series at home against South Africa and the two T20Is in Ireland. They were a part of the rescheduled fifth Test against England but Rohit was ruled out of it due to Covid-19. The upcoming second T20I against England will be the first instance since this year's IPL of Kohli and Rohit playing together for India.
What irked fans more was BCCI's decision to rest Rohit, Kohli and other seniors from the West Indies ODIs that are slated to follow the limited-overs series against England. The absence of Rohit and Kohli has been so prominent in recent times that India have had seven captains in the last nine months.
"Rohit Sharma ko England kyun bheja hai (Why did they send Rohit Sharma to England)? He didn’t play the Test and will only play limited-overs matches. Does he still need another break? He has rested enough," Ghavri told Sportskeeda. "How much rest do Virat and Rohit need? How long did Virat bat in the Test match? Playing for India should be their number one priority. You should shoot for advertisements during the IPL, not while playing for India. You cannot ask for frequent breaks in the name of workload management," he added.
There has been questions raised about whether Kohli now walks into India's T20I XI especially after the likes of Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav have delivered consistent performances in whatever opportunities that they have got in the shortest format.
"Players should be selected on merit. Virat has made India proud on many occasions, but drop him if he’s not in form. It’s as simple as that. Bring in the guys who are in form. Virat Kohli is a big name, but where are the runs? How long can you play based on your past reputation? He’s still stuck on 27 Test centuries. Meanwhile, Joe Root has now surpassed him despite lagging behind until recently," Ghavri said.
