Won’t be easy to sideline those two – Rajkumar Sharma on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s future in T20Is

Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma reckons it won’t be easy to sideline his pupil and Rohit Sharma from the T20I format. The experienced duo was not picked for the T20I series against Sri Lanka and they were also left out of the upcoming three-match T20I series squad against New Zealand.

In fact, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma haven’t played a T20I for India after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup. Kohli had scored 296 runs in six matches at an average of 98.67 in the T20I showpiece whereas Rohit had failed to deliver at the top of the order.

However, India’s full-time captain recently confirmed that he hasn’t quite given up on the T20I format and he will take a call on his T20I future after the conclusion of the IPL.

Speaking to India News Sports, Rajkumar Sharma said: “Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s absence from India’s T20 squad is a mystery to me as well. There has been no official confirmation regarding them. I am sure the new selection committee would have spoken to the two senior players.

“However, I don’t know anything about it. They are very big players. It won’t be easy to sideline those two or drop them.”

On the other hand, former Indian all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi feels the duo doesn’t seem to be in India’s scheme of things for the T20Is.

“Virat and Rohit were expected to be part of India’s squad for the T20I series against New Zealand,” Sodhi added.

“But now it appears as if the selectors have made up their minds. Both players have done well in the format and deserve a look-in. However, they don’t seem to be in India’s T20 scheme of things.”

Hardik Pandya will once again lead India in three T20Is against the Kiwis.

India’s T20I squad against New Zealand: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Suryakumar Yadav (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Prithvi Shaw, Mukesh Kumar.