New Delhi: Players of the stature of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are already well rested, so the BCCI selectors shouldn’t allow them to skip domestic matches, says former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar.
The BCCI had directed all its contracted players to feature in the Duleep Trophy matches ahead of the Bangladesh Test series.
But India skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli were allowed to skip those matches, with reports suggesting the two had informed the BCCI that they didn’t feel motivated enough to play in those matches.
The BCCI had earlier excluded Shreyas Iyer and Isha Kisna from its central contracts list for ignoring calls to play in domestic games.
Both Rohit and Kohli struggled in the three Tests against New Zealand, leading to India suffering an unprecedented whitewash.
“The big learning for the selectors from this home season is that do not rest the already well rested players because of their stature,” Manjrekar wrote on X.
“I say this again, both Rohit & Virat would only have benefited from playing the Duleep Trophy start of the season.”
The big learning for the selectors from this home season is that do not rest the already well rested players because of their stature.
I say this again, both Rohit & Virat would only have benefited from playing the Duleep Trophy start of the season.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) November 5, 2024
Rohit and Kohli were far from their best in the cumulative five Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand. Opener Rohit scored 133 runs in those 10 innings at an average of 13.30, with a best score of 52.
Kohli managed 192 runs in 10 innings at an average of 21.33, with 70 being his top score.
Both have received heavy criticism with reports saying the upcoming Australia series could decide their Test futures as the BCCI is also under pressure to take hard calls for the sake of the team.
India travel to Australia for a five-match series and need to win by a 4-0 margin to qualify for the World Test Championship final, irrespective of results of other teams.
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