Team India's all-format skipper Rohit Sharma hasn't played a single T20I match for the national team ever since their heartbreaking exit from T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final, last year. Rohit's last appearance in a T20 International match was in November 2022 against England. Since then, the selectors have not picked Rohit and Virat for any T20 matches at home or away. It is being assumed that both these senior players have been dropped from India's T20I team keeping in mind 'workload management'. The apex board wants players to get ample rest to prepare for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup, and also that young players get enough opportunities to audition for forthcoming 2024 T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies. In Rohit's absence, Hardik Pandya led team India and is currently doing the same in the ongoing India vs West Indies five-match T20I series.
Breaking silence over his absence from T20Is, Rohit admitted that it is 'not possible' for some players to play all three formats in an ODI World Cup year.
"At the moment I think it was made clear in the past that it's a 50-over World Cup year for us. And for some of the guys, it's not possible to play all formats. If you look at the schedule, there were back-to-back matches, so we decided on just looking at some players' workload that we wanted to make sure that they get enough break time and manage them. I definitely fall in that (category) as well," Rohit said at an event in the United States of America, as per Indian Express.
Rohit Sharma has turned 36-years-old and it is highly unlikely that the senior opener will get a chance to play T20 World Cup 2024, set to be jointly hosted by West Indies and America in June next year. Surprisingly, the star player recently shocked everyone by saying he is "looking forward" to play T20 World Cup, next year.