It seems that the plans are in motion for 'transitional phase' in Indian cricket. Even though there is no official confirmation from BCCI, in what comes as a shocking news for Indian fanbase, team India's star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will not be selected in national team for T20Is, going forward, NDTV reported.
A few days ago, team India's head coach Rahul Dravid, after end of IND-SL T20 series, had shed light on fate of senior batters, signaling that it was the end of road for both Kohli and Rohit in T20Is. Both Rohit and Virat - two of the highest run-scorers in T20I cricket - had made themselves unavailable for the recently played T20 series between India and Sri Lanka, and now it seems that the decision-makers in BCCI are ready to implement on their 'succession plan', keeping in mind next year's T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies.
The report by NDTV also suggests that Chetan Sharma-led new selection committee wants to permanently hand over India's T20 captaincy to Hardik Pandya, who recently led India to a clinical 2-1 win over Sri Lanka in three-match T20 series. By the virtue of this win, the Gujarat Titans skipper has reassured that he is fully prepared to lead a young team.
Rohit Sharma has been facing heat for his own poor form and team's performance under his captaincy, especially in major ICC events like Asia Cup and T20 World Cup 2022. However, BCCI planning to sideline Virat Kohli seems a bit strange. The 34-year-old ex-India skipper scored 781 runs in 20 T20 Internationals last year with a jaw-dropping average of 55.78.
Notably, Virat's presence and preference to bat at number three has led to a young batter like Shreyas Iyer not getting a chance to play - possibly one of the main reasons why the board might want to ask Kohli to leave T20Is and make way for young players.