New Delhi: India skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli were the notable exclusions from Duleep Trophy’s first round of matches before the Bangladesh Test series.
They were excused from playing without any valid reason even after the BCCI imposed a strict policy for all players to be available for domestic games to be considered for national team selection, having earlier dumped Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from central contracts for not obeying orders.
But Rohit and Kohli were granted exceptions, which might have been counterproductive for them in India’s Test series loss to New Zealand, feels Anil Kumble.
Rohit totalled only 60 runs (2, 52; 0,8) across four innings of the first two Tests in Bengaluru and Pune while Kohli managed 88 runs (0,70; 1,17).
When the team needed their two most experienced batters to come good, they fumbled, exposing the batting line-p that suffered collapses in both the defeats, leading to India’s first Test series loss at home since 2012-13 that snapped an 18 consecutive series win run.
“Perhaps just one or two innings in a match situation could have helped. Being in an actual game is definitely more beneficial than just practice; it gives an upper hand,” the former India captain and coach told Jio Cinema.
“If he feels that playing earlier would have benefited him, and the team management agrees, then maybe it would have.”
‘Match-ups’ should be avoided
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar said he wasn’t much in favour of “match-ups’ that India though of when sending all-rounder Washington to bat ahead of Sarfaraz Khan in the second innings of the second Test in Pune.
“The move to have Sarfaraz Khan bat down the order and sending Washington Sundar above him because he is a left-hander, those kind of things shouldn’t happen,” Manjrekar said.
“It’s just bizarre. That’s one thing that Rohit Sharma needs to be careful of…the T20 thinking of match ups left hand-right hand combinations. I think he should just go by the overall quality and ability of players.”
