After India defeated Sri Lanka in the T20I series, head coach Rahul Dravid gave a hint that hinted that the team was looking to build a young team for the future.
The legendary India batter indirectly signalled the end of the road for senior players, including captain Rohit Sharma, in the shortest format of the game.
After the failure of the T20 World Cup in Australia, there has been a clear shift in India’s approach moving forward. Veterans like Virat Kohli and Rohit have been replaced with youngsters like Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill.
The squad selection for the last couple of T20I series, coupled with Dravid’s remarks following the recently-concluded Sri Lanka T20Is gave everyone the impression that the senior players’ time in the format was up.
For the first time since the T20 World Cup heartbreak, India skipper Rohit addressed the raging debate during the pre-match press conference ahead of the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati.
The 35-year-old clearly rejected Dravid’s comments saying that he has not decided to give up on any format just yet. Unlike the head coach, the ‘Hitman’ insisted people shouldn’t look too much into his and other senior players’ absence from the T20I squad. They were given a break to manage their workload and give them ample rest.
Not just that, Rohit also signalled that he could return to the Indian team for the New Zealand T20Is.
“Firstly, it is not possible to play back-to-back matches. You need to give them (all format players) enough break. I definitely fall in that as well. We have three T20Is against New Zealand. We will see what happens after IPL. I have not decided to give up the format,” Rohit said during the pre-match press conference before the first ODI against Sri Lanka.
Rohit’s statement is in direct contradiction to what Dravid said last week. The fact that the captain publicly refuted the head coach’s vision for the future indicates that the two parties are not on the same page. It also highlights a clear communication gap between the two of the most powerful entities in Indian cricket.
The fact that Rohit is not ready to step down from the T20I captaincy is perhaps the reason why the BCCI has been delaying its decision to announce Hardik Pandya as Team India’s new full-time T20I captain.
Rather than giving contradictory remarks in public, in the best interest of Indian cricket, it would be better if Rohit and Dravid sat down together and discussed all these matters at length and built a consensus if they haven’t already.
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