Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma didn’t participate in Duleep Trophy© BCCI/Sportzpics
Team India did win the first Test against Bangladesh by Chepauk comfortably, securing a 280-run triumph, but the result doesn’t hide away issues that still remain. Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, and Ravindra Jadeja were among the top performers in the series opener but the performance of stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma left much to desire. Neither Virat nor Rohit succeeded in registering a big score in the two innings, prompting suggestions that they shouldn’t have missed the Duleep Trophy.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, sharing his rather blunt assessment of the situation, hit out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for treating players differently, based upon their stature and reputation.
“I’m not worried, but I’m sure somebody made a note of the fact that they would have been better off had they played some red-ball cricket. There was the option of picking them in the Duleep Trophy. So one has to be careful about treating certain players differently and do what’s best for Indian cricket and for the player. Virat and Rohit not playing (Duleep Trophy) was not good for Indian cricket, nor was it good for the two players. Had they played the Duleep Trophy and had some time in the red-ball cricket, things would have been different,” Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
Though Manjrekar has no doubts over Kohli and Rohit’s ability to bounce back, but he feels the ‘special treatment’ certain stars get in the Indian team is a problem that has been going on for a long time.
“But they have the class and experience to make a comeback later in the series, and I don’t see them, for that reason, not being in form. But something that one must make a quiet note of, and that has been a problem with Indian cricket for a long time now, is that certain players get picked out for special treatment because of their status, which eventually hurts that player more than anyone else,” he asserted.
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