Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli back in India’s T20 cricket squad ahead of World Cup in June
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Regular skipper Rohit Sharma (left) and stalwart Virat Kohli have not played T20 Internationals since November 2022.
PHOTOS: REUTERS
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NEW DELHI – Regular skipper Rohit Sharma and stalwart Virat Kohli returned to India’s T20 squad after a year’s gap for the home series against Afghanistan, amid speculation about their future in this format.
Both the batters have not played T20 Internationals since India’s defeat by England in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Australia in November 2022.
While they have been active in other formats, talk was rife whether they would play the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States in June.
Both Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, who shared the T20 captaincy burden in Sharma’s absence, were left out of the series against Afghanistan, reportedly because of injuries.
Wicketkeeper-batter K.L. Rahul missed out, though the Indian cricket board did not offer any explanation for any of the omissions or inclusions in its statement on Jan 7.
The pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have been rested, ostensibly to keep them fresh ahead of the five-Test home series against England beginning later in January.
India kick off the series against Afghanistan in Mohali on Jan 11 followed by matches in Indore and Bengaluru.
Last week, Sharma told critics of sub-continent pitches to “keep their mouths shut”, blasting what he believes are double standards in the sport.
The 36-year-old, speaking after his team achieved the quickest win in Test history, said there needed to be consistency in how pitches were rated by match referees.
India beat South Africa by seven wickets in the second Test at Newlands in a match which took only 107 overs and was completed on the second afternoon.
Conditions were treacherous for batters from the first morning, when South Africa were bowled out for 55 on a surface which had inconsistent bounce as well as pace and considerable seam movement.
“We saw what happened in this match, how the pitch played,” said Sharma.
“I honestly don’t mind playing on pitches like this, as long as everyone keeps their mouths shut in India and don’t talk too much about Indian pitches.”
Sharma said he still could not believe that the pitch for the World Cup final in November in Ahmedabad – where his team were defeated by Australia
“The ICC, the match referees, need to start rating pitches on what they see, not based on the countries. Honestly, I would like to see how the pitches are rated.”
He said it was a reality that pitches in India tended to help spin bowling, but this seemed to be more of an issue than excessive seam movement. He urged match referees to “stay neutral”.
Chris Broad was the match referee for the Test and his rating on the pitch will have to be submitted to the International Cricket Council before it is made public. REUTERS
