'Once a Player Hits The Mid-thirties...': Sunil Gavaskar Questions Absence of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli From Duleep Trophy
Prior to the announcement of the squads for the upcoming Duleep Trophy – a red-ball competition that will kickstart India’s domestic season – there were speculations that it could be a star-studded affair with top international stars set to feature.
The selectors named the four squads recently which do feature top India cricketers barring a few including Test captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya.vvv
While Bumrah has given extended period of rest given his past history with back issues, Shami is continuing recovery from an ankle injury. On the other hand, Pandya hasn’t played first-class cricket since December 2018 having prioritised his white-ball career given his own history with injuries.
However, Rohit and Kohli haven’t been picked.
Why?
Because in the words of BCCI secretary Jay Shah, picking them doesn’t make any sense and they don’t want them to pick up injuries playing domestic cricket given the upcoming Test assignments including a five-match series in Australia.
“It doesn’t make sense to add to Virat and Rohit’s load by asking them to play domestic cricket. They run the risk of getting injured,†Shah had told The Times of India.
However, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar differs in his view. He argues that both Rohit and Kohli aren’t spring chickens anymore and for them to remain in top form will be relatively more challenging than when they were younger.
Gavaskar says they both could have benefitted from some game time in the Duleep Trophy that starts from September 5.
“The selectors have not picked the skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the Duleep Trophy so they will most likely go into the Bangladesh Test series without much match practice,†Gavaskar wrote in his column for the mid-day.
“While it’s understandable that somebody like Jasprit Bumrah with his delicate back needs to be handled with care, the batters could have done with some batting time out in the middle. Once a player hits the mid-thirties in any sport, then regular competition will help him maintain the high standards he has set. When there’s a longish gap then the muscle memory weakens somewhat and to get back to the high standards from earlier is not easy,†he added.
Rohit last played a Test in March this year while Kohli in January. However, both have been regularly playing white-ball cricket and recently announced their retirements from T20Is.
The duo will be back in action from the Bangladesh Test series next month.
Source:Â news18
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