Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly feels that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should be part of the Indian T20I team, and they both still can contribute in the shortest format.
Pointing out to Kohli’s stellar IPL 2023 campaign where the ex-Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain scored 600-plus runs for the first time since 2016, the 34-year-old smashed 639 runs in 14 games and finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer in the league behind Shubman Gill, Faf du Plessis, and Devon Conway.
The pair have been rested for the majority of T20I matches this year as the BCCI are looking to manage the duo’s workload, however, Ganguly has other ideas.
“Pick your best players, it doesn’t matter who they are. In my opinion, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma still have a place in T20I cricket and I cannot see why a Kohli or a Rohit cannot play T20I cricket,” Ganguly told RevSportz.
He continued, “Kohli was in great form in the IPL, and both have place in T20 cricket, if you ask me.”
In Rohit’s absence, Hardik Pandya has been leading the Indian team in the majority of the matches, and he will continue to lead the side in the upcoming five-match T20I series against West Indies.
With Rohit, Virat and Ravindra Jadeja rested, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma got their maiden call-ups however, fans unleashed their fury on social media after the likes of Rinku Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Jitesh Sharma missed out on the Caribbean tour.
Quizzed about the trio’s exclusion, the former Indian captain stated that some or other big names will miss out since only a limited number of players can be named in the squad, but they will also get their chances.
“They just have to keep playing. They will have to keep performing in whatever chances they get. It happens all the time. Only 15 can be picked in the squad, and 11 can play. So, somebody has to miss out. I am pretty sure their time will come,” said Ganguly.
The West Indies tour starts with the two-match Test series from July 12, followed by a 3-match ODI series, and then the T20I leg will begin from 3 August.
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