Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are India’s two most dependable cricketers but they gave lackluster performances in the Chennai Test against Bangladesh. Rohit scored just 11 runs, while Kohli managed 23 runs, sparking questions about their decision to skip the recent Duleep Trophy. The Duleep Trophy is a four-day red-ball competition that could have given them much-needed match practice for the test series against Bangladesh.
Top Indian cricketers like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill participated in the Duleep Trophy to prepare for the upcoming Test season. However, senior players such as Rohit, Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja (who later withdrew), Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj opted out of the competition.
India is set to host New Zealand for three Tests before flying to Australia for five crucial matches. These contests are key to determining if India will qualify for the World Test Championship final.
In Test cricket this year, Rohit has accumulated 466 runs from 13 innings, averaging 38.83. Kohli, on the other hand, has struggled, scoring just 81 runs from four innings. The former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar hinted that the two senior players might be receiving preferential treatment.
While speaking on a show, Sanjay Manjrekar said, “I’m not worried, but I’m sure somebody made a note of the fact that they would have been better off had they played some red-ball cricket. There was the option of picking them in the Duleep Trophy. So one has to be careful about treating certain players differently and do what’s best for Indian cricket and for the player.”
Manjrekar believes that had Rohit and Kohli played in the Duleep Trophy, it would have benefited their Test form. However, he remains confident in their abilities and expects them to bounce back in the second Test, which starts on Friday in Kanpur.
The former Indian cricketer further said, “Virat and Rohit not playing (Duleep Trophy) was not good for Indian cricket, nor was it good for the two players. Had they played the Duleep Trophy and had some time in the red-ball cricket, things would have been different. But they have the class and experience to make a comeback later in the series, and I don’t see them, for that reason, not being in form.”
Sanjay Manjrekar added, “But something that one must make a quiet note of, and that has been a problem with Indian cricket for a long time now, is that certain players get picked out for special treatment because of their status, which eventually hurts that player more than anyone else.”
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