File photo of Rohit Sharma.© Twitter
Rohit Sharma missed the just-concluded T20I series against Sri Lanka with Hardik Pandya being named the captain. It led to the speculation that going forward Rohit might lead only in ODIs and Tests in what seemed to be a transitional phase for Indian cricket. However, the 35-year-old India captain has now cleared the air over his T20I future ahead of the ODI series against Sri Lanka, starting on Tuesday. “I have not decided to give up on T20 format,” Rohit said in a press conference.
Rohit also revealed the reason on why Bumrah was ruled out of the ODI series on the eve of the first ODI. “Jasprit Bumrah felt stiffness while bowling at nets in National Cricket Academy,” he said.
The India captain said that Shubman Gill will be his opening partner for the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati. “Unfortunate that we won’t be able to play Ishan Kishan. We have to give Gill a fair run,” he said.
In the ODIs, the return of old guards Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and also Shreyas Iyer will give the hosts a huge boost. India have a packed ODI calendar – 15 matches excluding the Asia Cup – in the 10-month window in the build-up to the World Cup in October-November and the key will be to not just get the balance right but also manage the workload in the midst of the Indian Premier League and the highly-anticipated Australia Test series.
But another injury scare to Bumrah has thrown the spanner in the works of the team management. There also lies the problem of plenty in picking the top-five batters.
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