The future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli looks foggy, as the selectors have shown the courage to take hard calls before Australia White-Ball Tour. Former cricketer Akash Chopra betrayed two legends, claiming that, “he has tied his own hands.”
Rohit Sharma has been taken away as the captain of the Indian side, in which Shubman Gill is named as his successor. The future looks quite uncertain, as the pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit, once seen as indispensable, now need to show their caliber as well as continuity if they are ready to travel to South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe for the next World Cup.
“But if he had continued to play the test format, he would have played a lot of cricket,” Akash Chopra claims
Former Indian batsman Akash Chopra said that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have banned themselves by retiring from the longest format of the game earlier this year. His comments come after the squad being announced for the tour of Australia.
“They have tied their hands themselves. The moment you retire from the test format, I felt that the T20 was absolutely equal for the course because when you win the World Cup, you retire, it’s fine.”
Chopra said on ESPNcricinfo, “But if they had continued to play the test format, they would have played a lot of cricket, not only the cricket test, but also put the first class cricket elsewhere, and keep themselves in serious form.”
“This is the form -deault that if you maintain runs,
Indian legend Virat Kohli holds the record for scoring the most centuries in OD cricket, while he also finds himself in the same boat as Rohit Sharma, which on the other hand, scored 3 double centuries in his ODI career. Chopra believes that if they want to place their places in Indian playing XI, batsmen need stability.
“But now if you are playing ODI format, then something that I said for Rohit, is also true for Virat Kohli. Of course, Virat has these unprecedented wide ball numbers, a day’s number, perhaps a little better than Rohit Sharma, even though there are three double centuries in Rohit’s name,” Chopra said.
He said, “But again, it is a form-deault that if you maintain runs, you find a place in the side. If you don’t, then there may be someone else waiting,” he said.
Ajit Agarkar explained his decision to convert Rohit Sharma into OD skipper
Chief Indian selector Ajit Agarkar explained that India is unlikely to play in many ODIs in the coming two years, so it is important to give some time to the next captain, Shubman Gill, to grow as a true leader till the 2027 ICC World Cup.
“One -day cricket is the format that is played at least, which means that there are no opportunities to prepare the next captain.”
Also read: “I want to be a captain”: Yashasvi Jaiswal sets non-conversion with BCCI after Shubman Gill’s height
