‘Jadeja also not playing, you did not ask about him?’: Rohit Sharma on Virat query
The ICC World Cup in 2023 is less than two months away, and Team India, led by Rohit Sharma, is struggling with experiments in the Caribbean. The Rahul Dravid-coached team is actively recruiting young players and fringe players for their white-ball leg of the tour while keeping an eye on the greater picture. In the ODI series finale against the West Indies, India decided to rest captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
The entire five-match T20I series is played sans Kohli and Rohit for the Men in Blue. India’s skipper Rohit attended a La Liga event where the seasoned batsman spoke extensively about the 2018 World Cup while India was playing the West Indies in a T20I series. Prior to the Asia Cup and World Cup, the Indian captain acknowledged that Team India’s No. 4 position is a problem.
Rohit stressed the value of giving India’s seasoned players a break in bilateral series in preparation for the World Cup during the special discussion. Rohit made a remarkable statement in response to a question regarding India playing a reserve team against the West Indies to explain the absence of seasoned batsmen (him and Kohli) from the T20I series.
Rohit Sharma on Virat query: ‘Jadeja is also not playing T20I, you did not ask about him?
“Last year also we did the same thing — the T20 World Cup was there, so we didn’t play one-day cricket. Now also we are doing the same, the ODI World Cup is there, so we are not playing T20s. You can’t play everything and be ready for the World Cup. We decided this two years ago. (Ravindra) Jadeja is also not playing T20, you did not ask about him? I understand the focus (on himself and Virat). But Jadeja is also not playing,” Rohit said in his reply to a query about him and Kohli being overlooked by selectors in India’s recent T20I assignments.
Rohit Sharma-led India is ‘desperate’ to end India’s ICC trophy drought
Since the 2022 World Cup semifinal against England, run-machine Kohli and captain Rohit have not appeared in a T20 International for India. The 36-year-old also acknowledged that his team is ‘desperate’ for the 2018 World Cup to be the opportunity to end India’s ICC trophy drought. India last claimed an ICC championship in 2013. India won the 50-over competition the last time the Asian giants hosted it in 2011.
“Honestly, I have never won a (50 overs) World Cup, it’s a dream to win a World Cup and to be here fighting for it nothing makes me happier than that. “You don’t get World Cups on a platter, you have to really work hard and that is what we have been doing all these years from 2011 till now we all are fighting for it,” Rohit said.
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