End Of Road For Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma In T20Is? Rahul Dravid Delivers Huge Update On Duo's T20I Career
Published - 23 Jan 2023, 08:42 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:15 AM
India head coach Rahul Dravid has delivered a big update on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s careers in T20 Internationals. The way things have panned out in recent times, there have been speculations that Rohit and Kohli’s T20Is careers might be as good as over.
Following India’s failure to win the T20 World Cup in Australia last year, the selectors have been picking new look and young teams for the shortest format of the game. Neither Rohit nor Kohli has played a single T20I since the World Cup.
Earlier this month, Hardik Pandya was named the captain for the T20I series against Sri Lanka as neither Rohit nor Kohli were named in the squad. At that time, it looked like the selectors have rested the duo.
However, a number of eyebrows were raised when the squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand was announced. While the cricketing fraternity was expecting both Rohit and Kohli to make a comeback to the T20I squad, the selectors decided otherwise.
Rahul Dravid on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma:
They did not name any of the senior players in the team for the forthcoming series against the Black Caps. Pandya was named the captain for the series once again. Since then, there have been murmurs regarding the duo’s T20I careers with many suggesting that it might be the end of the road for them.
With none of the batting stars getting any younger, the recent decisions from the selectors made many believe that Rohit and Kohli won’t play anymore T20Is. However, Rahul Dravid has refuted the rumours and has confirmed that the batting superstars have been rested.
Speaking ahead of the third ODI against New Zealand, Dravid was asked about the duo’s absence from the T20I side. In reply, he said: “We need to give certain priorities to certain white-ball tournaments due to the amount of cricket that we’re playing. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the World Test Championship are very important for us. There are certain white-ball tournaments that we have to prioritize.”
“The priority after the T20 World Cup has been these six games (ODIs) and Virat has played all these six games. He will get a break, along with Rohit and a few other guys in the next week so that they come refreshed on the 2nd for a good one week camp before we play Australia. So we just have to prioritize certain formats,” Dravid added.
India and Australia are scheduled to lock horns in the crucial four-match Test series next month, scheduled to begin on February 9. The result of the series is likely to decide India’s fate in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship.
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