Team India skipper Rohit Sharma and his predecessor Virat Kohli have given themselves ample time to rest and stay fresh for the big ODI assignments in 2023 including the Asia Cup followed by the ICC Cricket World Cup. Both Kohli and Rohit have not played T20Is for India since the T20 World Cup last year in Australia and their continued absence has given rise to speculations that they are being slowly phased out from the format. However, that may not be the case just yet.
As head coach Rahul Dravid mentioned earlier during one of the home T20 international assignments that the senior players will focus on ODI cricket in particular since it is a World Cup year and then the Test matches with World Test Championship still to be held then. Now, skipper Rohit has himself revealed the big reason and he did get flared up a bit on the reporter's question.
Responding to the question of senior players (him and Kohli) resting from T20Is at a LaLiga event in Mumbai on Thursday, August 10, Rohit said, "Last year also we did the same thing — the T20 World Cup was there, so we didn't play one-day cricket. Now also we are doing the same, the ODI World Cup is there, so we are not playing T20s," he said."You can't play everything and be ready for the World Cup. We decided this two years ago.
Rohit then questioned the reporter to ask him about Ravindra Jadeja as well, who also hasn't played a T20I for a long time. "[Ravindra] Jadeja is also not playing T20s, you did not ask about him? I understand about the focus (on himself and Virat). But Jadeja is also not playing," Rohit further said.
"It is a World Cup year; we want to keep everyone fresh; already we had so many injuries in the team that I am scared of injuries now," he mentioned referring to the injuries to Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah among other key players in the run-up to the World Cup.
