“Sometimes family time is very important” – Suresh Raina on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli missing Duleep Trophy 2024

Former Indian batter Suresh Raina believes the veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should have played in the Duleep trophy. Earlier it was reported that the pair will be part of the domestic red-ball tournament but they were not picked by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel.

While Rohit last played Duleep trophy for Mumbai back in 2016, Virat Kohli hasn’t played in the domestic circuit since 2012 for Delhi. 

After winning the T20 World Cup, Rohit and Kohli returned to the ODI squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka, which India lost by 2-0.

Suresh Raina said on Sports Tak, “They should have played. We have not played any red-ball cricket after the IPL. If you are going for a big series, you need to play red-ball cricket. I think they are all mature enough and they know how they need to practice once they regroup. Sometimes family time is very important.”

Earlier, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said it is important to manage workload of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as they have been playing continuously.

Meanwhile, Duleep trophy is all set to begin on September 5 and four teams will take part in the tournament.

On the other hand, former CSK batter Raina wants MS Dhoni to play in IPL 2025. Dhoni scored 161 runs in 11 innings at an impressive average of 53.67 and a blistering strike rate of 220.54 in IPL 2024.

Raina said, “I want MS Dhoni to play in IPL 2025, considering how he batted last year. I feel Ruturaj Gaikwad needs one more year, the way he captained, and a lot of things were said after the loss to RCB. However, Ruturaj has done a great job and led the team really well and batted well too.”

It has been reported that CSK wants to retain Dhoni as an uncapped player as he hasn’t played any International cricket in the last five years since his retirement.