India vs Australia: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma© AFP
The Indian cricket team is at crossroads in every sense of the term. After winning the T20 World Cup, nothing has gone right for the side. It lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka, was clean-sweeped at home by New Zealand in a Test series and is trailing Australia 2-1 in the Border Gavaskar Trophy with one match to go. Its chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship also looks bleak. While Jasprit Bumrah has shone like a bright spot in the campaign Down Under, seniors like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have not been in the best of form.
Now, a report in Sports Tak said, quoting sources, that the trio may not play in the ODI series against England, starting February 6, due to workload management. India will five T20Is (starting on January 22) and three ODIs against England. The three ODIs will be the last assignment in the format for the Indian cricket team before the Champions Trophy, that starts on February 9. If indeed the trio misses the ODI series, it would be a surprising call.
With India failing to prevent Australia from winning the Melbourne Test, former India cricketer Surinder Khanna took a dig at Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma over their poor form in recent matches in the longest format of the game.
“What are Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli doing? Remove attention from Rishabh Pant. He used to play like this only from day one. He will continue to make such mistakes. Tell me about Kohli and Rohit, what have they doing since the last 40-45 innings? They should automatically sit outside if selectors are not doing it then they should do it themselves. You and I can’t throw them out. The kind of form they are in then even if you will bowl, they will get out. I am saying this by experience. The shot which is their scoring one, why should not they play? David Gower and Gundappa Vishwanath scored so many runs by playing cut shots,” Surinder Khanna told ANI.
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