The focus of Indian management is mainly remained to nurture the aggressive brand of cricket played in the T20I format and nurturing fearless youngster who will play similar brand of cricket resting the likes of experienced Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the consequent white ball tournaments to follow. Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli pulled out of South Africa’s white ball leg citing workload management according to sources.
Post the defeat to the Australians in the Finals of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, BCCI and the selectors of the Indian National Cricket Team has taken a paradigm shift in approach of considering the players in built up to the next big white ball assignment the ICC T20 WC 2024 to be held in June in West Indies and United States of America.
Even though there hasn’t been an official word about the availability of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the shortest format, head coach Rahul Dravid on his extended tenure is expected to build Team India’s squad around two of its finest batters for the next T20 World Cup. After an impressive show at the One Day International (ODI) World Cup 2023 in India, Kohli and Rohit have been rested for the entire white-ball leg of the South Africa tour.
The batting duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is expected to return to the Indian squad for the 2 match test series vs South Africa with Rohit Sharma taking over the reigns of Captain. In the absence of skipper Rohit Sharma and ex skipper Virat Kohli, India have auditioned the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad , Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Verma, Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh in the built up to the next years T20 World Cup
I think Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma should be there in World Cup- Harbhajan Singh
According to legendary Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should feature in India’s squad for the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup. When asked by ANI about the uncertain future of the two senior batters, Harbhajan opined that Rohit and Kohli have ‘a lot of mettle’ to clear the selection hurdle for another ICC event.
“I think both Virat (Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma) should be there in the World Cup,” said Harbhajan Singh.
“This is a young team; I think we should give them some time. We are very result-oriented, and our team is good only if they give results. That is not the case. I think that if we give them time, they will obviously learn. We will have to change ourselves a little as we judge teams on results too quickly. Results take time. This team is in the process. South Africa is not an easy place to play, especially for bowlers,” he further added.
This indeed has raised expectations from the Indian duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to perform well in the upcoming IPL 2024 and give them the chance to win the elusive trophy of ICC T20 World Cup 2024.