Indian legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar questions the absence of veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the upcoming Duleep Trophy. Duleep Trophy 2024 will commence on Thursday, September 5th.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) announced four squads for the Duleep Trophy first round on Wednesday, August 14th. Team A, Team B, Team C, and Team D are the four squads declared for the first round. Shubman Gill will lead the Team A squad, and Team B’s captain will be Abhimanyu Easwaran. While Ruturaj Gaikwad will be in the skipper’s role for Team C, Shreyas Iyer will lead Team D. The first-class cricket commencing on September 5th will take place at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli To Participate In Series against Bangladesh Without Practice: Sunil Gavaskar
The squad announcement for the Duleep Trophy 2024 for the first round consisted of four teams. While many other prominent Indian cricketers like Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Mohammed Siraj made it to the squads for the tournament, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain absent from the teams.
Former Indian cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar expresses distress over not selecting Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the competition. The 75-year-old raised a question regarding Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s participation in the upcoming home Test series against Bangladesh. Sunil Gavaskar is concerned about Rohit and Virat stepping into the series against Bangladesh without practice, as playing in the Duleep Trophy could add to their advantage. Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his mid-day column (via Hindustan Times) that,
“The selectors have not picked the skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the Duleep Trophy, so they will most likely go into the Bangladesh Test series without much match practice.”
Furthermore, Sunil Gavaskar respected BCCI’s decision to drop Jasprit Bumrah out of the squad. However, the legendary cricketer believes that players of any sport in their mid-thirties should participate regularly to maintain the standards they have already set. In addition, Sunil Gavaskar also added that an extended gap leads to muscle memory, and it is not easy for a player to start over. Sunil Gavaskar added,
“While it’s understandable that somebody like Jasprit Bumrah with his delicate back needs to be handled with care, the batters could have done with some batting time out in the middle. Once a player hits the mid-thirties in any sport, then regular competition will help him maintain the high standards he has set. When there’s a longish gap then the muscle memory weakens somewhat and to get back to the high standards from earlier is not easy,”
Amidst all these, BCCI’s secretary Jay Shah said that players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli Shouldn’t be forced to participate in the Duleep Trophy. Jay Shah mentioned the risk of injuries for both the cricketers. In addition, he also noted the absence of International players belonging to Australia, England, and other countries who don’t necessarily participate in domestic cricket. He said to ANI ( via Times of India) that,
“We should not insist on players like Rohit and Virat to play in the Duleep Trophy. They will risk injury. If you have noticed, in Australia and England, every international player does not play domestic cricket. We have to treat the players with respect.”