India's former selector jumps in Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma debate!! Reminds them of Sachin Tendulkar

India's 0-3 defeat to New Zealand in the Test series has brought two of the seniormost players in the team under huge pressure. Senior pros Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had a disappointing series overall with the bat.

The poor form of these two stalwarts was one of the reasons for India's batting failure. As a result, both of them have been on the receiving end from experts and former cricketers. Former national selector Devang Gandhi is also one of them.

Gandhi cited the example of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and reminded Kohli and Rohit of the importance of domestic cricket. It is to be noted that both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had a chance to play domestic cricket and prepare for the home Tests. But both of them opted out of it.

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Devang Gandhi cites Sachin Tendulkar's example and slams Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

While speaking to PTI, Devang Gandhi recalled the time when the great Sachin Tendulkar played the Ranji Trophy semifinal and the final in the year 2000 even when there was a little window in the international calendar.

"In gruelling heat of second week of April, in the year 2000, he played Ranji Trophy semi-final for Mumbai against Tamil Nadu and scored a double hundred in a first innings chase of nearly 500," Gandhi said.

"In another three days, he was playing the Ranji final against the Hyderabad team which had Mohammed Azharuddin and VVS Laxman and scored a fifty and a hundred. Tendulkar played Ranji semi-final and final in a space of two weeks in April after playing ODIs till end of March," said the former player," he added.

During the year 2000, Sachin Tendulkar was at the peak of his career. He was scoring runs in all the formats against bigger teams consistently. The Master Blaster had a terrific record in the Ranji Trophy and always played for his side Mumbai whenever he had a break from international cricket.

"One Duleep Trophy game could have been played" - Devang Gandhi

While speaking on the workload management, Devang Gandhi reckoned that the batters need to go back to domestic cricket in case they are not in form. He feels that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should have played at least a match of the Duleep Trophy in order to prepare themselves for the home Test season.

"Obviously workload is important and so is rest. But for batters, if you realize that you are not in the best of form, you have to take recourse to domestic cricket. I believe one Duleep Trophy game could have been played," Gandhi stated.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah had earlier stated that both Kohli and Rohit won't play domestic cricket as the board wants to manage their workload ahead of a gruelling Test season.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in New Zealand Tests

In the three-match Test series against New Zealand, Virat Kohli scored 93 runs at an average of just 15.50 while Rohit Sharma scored 91 runs at an average of 15.16. Both the batters faltered in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh as well.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been in international cricket for a long time now and have been a key part of India across formats. They retired from T20Is after India's historic T20 World Cup 2024 title win in June 2024.