‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma didn’t find himself in the 18-member squad for the first three Tests against England starting from August 1. Despite carrying a decent form, the selectors overlooked him during the selection.
Right after the team was announced on Wednesday afternoon, there was a great uproar on social media as Rohit’s fans questioned his axing. However, the Hitman seemed to have excepted board’s decision as he took to his official Twitter account and came up with a motivational post.
Here’s the message:
Well, without uttering much, Rohit has clarified his intentions that he won’t give up so easily.
Rohit had been a crucial factor during the T20I and ODI series. But somewhere his patchy record over five years – 1500 runs from 25 Tests – overshadowed his current form.
Instead of going for the Indian vice-captain in limited-overs, the board chose to give youngster Rishabh Pant a chance. In addition, they have also included Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur making the Indian squad probably the biggest-ever to be sent on an abroad tour.
Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha hasn’t recovered from the injury and has been replaced by Dinesh Karthik. Bhuvneshwar also missed out due to injury, however, the board has notified that his fitness will be further analysed on which depends on his return.
Here’s the complete squad:
Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Shami, Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav