Indian cricket team’s captain, Rohit Sharma, confessed they considered recalling a seasoned player to fill Virat Kohli’s slot in the lineup for the initial two Test matches against England. Nonetheless, they decided against this notion, emphasizing their focus on upcoming prospects.
Virat Kohli was initially named in the Indian squad for the first two Test matches against England. He, however, subsequently pulled out citing personal reasons. Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar has been named as Kohli’s replacement in the Indian team for the first two Tests.
At a press conference ahead of the opening Test against England in Hyderabad, Rohit Sharma was asked to shed light on the logic behind picking Patidar ahead of someone like Cheteshwar Pujara or Ajinkya Rahane.
“Yeah, I mean, look, you could have thought that [going back to a senior player] we did actually think about it, but all these younger players, when are they going to get their opportunity? That’s something that we thought as well.”
“Leaving out an experienced player or not considering them is very hard because of the amount of runs they’ve scored, the kind of experience they’ve had, the amount of games that they have won. For us, it’s very hard to ignore all of that, but you sometimes got to bring certain players into your setup as well, and you got to give them your favorable conditions.”
Rohit Sharma
The 36-year-old clarified that it is preferable for novice players to encounter red ball cricket at the international level at home as opposed to being exposed to the game in a foreign environment.
“You don’t want to expose them or bring them on foreign tours where they’ve not played before. So I think that’s the thought behind all of that. It’s important that we try and get some of these youngsters in whenever there is an opportunity.”
Rohit Sharma
Patidar, age 30, has participated in 55 official games. He boasts 4,000 runs with an average of 45.97. He’s achieved 12 scores in the hundreds and 22 in the fifties.
“By no means, the doors are closed for anyone” – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma stated that the doors are not closed to anyone who is now out of favor, even if he supported the choice to select an inexperienced hitter as Kohli’s replacement rather than a seasoned player. On the other hand, he insisted that new players must enter the setup.
“By no means, the doors are closed for anyone, you know, as long as they stay fit and keep scoring runs. Anyone will be welcomed back into the setup. Having said that, I think it’s important to look at some of the other players as well.”
“We don’t want to end up in a place where we’ve got you know, out of 11 guys seven or eight guys who have barely played 25 Test matches between them. So, it’s important that whenever you have the opportunity, give them some game time.”
Rohit Sharma
Despite having played 103 and 85 Tests, respectively, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were left off the starting eleven for the opening two England Tests due to a poor run of form in those matches.