The Indian captain came up with an interesting response on why he and Kohli have continued to skip T20Is over the past eight months.
With the two leading Indian modern-day greats missing from the side’s T20I plans over the past eight months, question marks have been rife on the future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the shortest format.
While some think the two ageing players have been informally phased out at the onset of a transition phase, few still believe both or at least one of them could be playing the next T20 World Cup in the Caribbean & USA.
When presented with the question on his and Kohli’s T20I future directly, however, Rohit came up with an amusing response wherein he asked the concerned media personnel to also focus on the absence of spin allrounder Ravindra Jadeja from the youthful side currently playing a five-match series against the West Indies.
The Indian captain posed a counter-question, insisting why isn’t he being queried over Jadeja’s absence despite him being India’s premier spin allrounder, batting No.7 in the limited-overs outfit while sharing the fifth bowler’s workload alongside his pace equivalent Hardik Pandya.
The funnily toned response came amidst rising speculations on Rohit and Kohli’s T20I future. The two cricketers haven’t played any games in the shortest format since India’s painstaking exit from the T20 World Cup in Australia last year, losing comprehensively to ultimate champions England in the semifinal at Adelaide.
Undergoing separate issues with the bat as they approach the back half of their thirties, both the esteemed names are touted by fans and experts to prioritise prolonging their stay in Tests and ODIs and formally relinquish T20I duties.
Without revealing the backroom discussions to this front, Rohit tried to dull the storm, stating the key reason why they’ve been playing T20Is over the past months is to stay fresh before the 50-overs World Cup in October-November.
“Last year also we did the same thing — the T20 World Cup was there, so we didn’t play one-day cricket. Now also we are doing the same, the ODI World Cup is there, so we are not playing T20s. You can’t play everything and be ready for the World Cup,” Rohit said.
“We decided this two years ago. (Ravindra) Jadeja is also not playing T20, you did not ask about him? I understand about the focus (on himself and Virat). But Jadeja is also not playing,” he added.
