Both players had a subpar outing in the recent Border Gavaskar Trophy.
India’s two premier batters – skipper Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli have been struggling visibly in red-ball cricket. Their recent subpar outings in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) have further put them under the scanner, with a number of fans and critics asking them to call it quits in the longest format.
While Kohli could manage 190 runs across 9 innings at 23.75, Rohit’s numbers were much worse with only 31 runs at a paltry average of 6.20. So much so that Rohit had even dropped himself for the final Test which led to speculations of him potentially having played his final Test match for India.
Thus, with the next red-ball assignment being the India tour of England in June, both players could have benefitted by playing some county cricket to get acclimatised to the English conditions prior to the series.
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However, it is now understood contrary to multiple reports, that Rohit and Virat won’t get a window to feature in a county game.
This is because one round of county matches ends on May 26 with the next starting on June 22, while the England series kickstarts on June 20. Between May 26 to June 20, there are no county games
With uncertainty looming over Rohit’s future in Tests, the five-match England Test series will definitely be the last chance for Kohli to script a turnaround in Tests.
Virat, who last played a domestic match in 2012, was left exposed badly during the BGT in Australia where he was often caught edging deliveries on the fourth stump line. The Indian maestro’s form in England last time wasn’t that great either as he managed to score just 249 runs across 9 innings averaging under 30. Participating in county cricket could thus have served as an ideal opportunity to refine his skills and rebuild his confidence.
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