Credit: Twitter
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been a massive part of the Indian cricket team in all formats of the game, for the majority of their international careers. But, these two stalwarts of Team India aren’t getting any younger, while their performances on the field have started to dwindle a bit, at least in one format recently.
To keep the Indian cricket marching forward in times to come, the chief selector is reportedly going to talk to Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and some other senior players about their future plans in international cricket, especially in the T20I format, after the ODI World Cup 2023. It has been rumoured that the BCCI is going to pick Ajit Agarkar, a former India international, as the chief selector of the men's team selection committee, the post vacated by Chetan Sharma in February of this year.
A senior official of the BCCI, reportedly talked about the matter with InsideSport, a sports news website. They were quoted as saying, “One of the jobs of the chief selector is to speak to the players on their future plans. Rohit and Virat are not immune to that. Yes, we would have wanted to continue as long as they want. But all great players have a time to consider their plans. Playing three formats and IPL won’t be an easy job.”
“Obviously, the focus shifts to T20s after the World Cup. Since 2007, we have not won the T20 WC and it is a priority and a matter of prestige now since IPL has been growing at a rapid pace. It does not look good if we don’t win the T20 WC with the kind of players coming through the IPL. The selection committee will make a blueprint on that soon after the 50-over WC,” the senior official added.
The point about Team India not winning the T20 World Cup, since the inception of the IPL, is vital to kick-starting this potential conversation about future plans between the senior players and the chief selector. The youngsters in the Indian T20I setup are already starting to thrive under the leadership of Hardik Pandya with a year remaining until the next world tournament in the shortest format, which could force the hand of BCCI into sending some of the senior players into permanent sabbatical from T20Is, after the ODI World Cup 2023.
Get Latest Sports News , updates and Cricket Live Score , latest news and more
