It was quite a surprise when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were exempted from the Duleep Trophy domestic season. Because, unlike other years, this time this competition is of severe importance.
BCCI is promoting the Duleep Trophy like never before. They advised the Indian national team players to play in the tournament and changed it from a zonal format to more of a national format.
Almost every Indian national team member will be part of this tournament except Rohit, Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah. BCCI secretary defended this decision but former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar was furious over these exclusions.
No Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma?
Sunil Gavaskar understood that the exclusion of Bumrah was necessary due to his back. He also was fine with Hardik Pandya not playing as it is not his format. But he was disappointed with the exclusion of Kohli and Rohit.
He stated, “The selectors have not picked the skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the Duleep Trophy so they will most likely go into the Bangladesh Test series without much match practice.
While it’s understandable that somebody like Jasprit Bumrah with his delicate back needs to be handled with care, the batters could have done with some batting time out in the middle.
Once a player hits the mid-thirties in any sport, then regular competition will help him maintain the high standards he has set. When there’s a longish gap then the muscle memory weakens somewhat and to get back to the high standards from earlier is not easy.”
Jay Shah Replies
Earlier, BCCI secretary Jay Shah was asked the same question and he replied instantly. He stated that it does not make sense to add Rohit and Virat to the Duleep Trophy.
He stated, “It doesn’t make sense to add to Virat and Rohit’s load by asking them to play domestic cricket. They run the risk of getting injured. You also need to look at England and Australia. None of their top players play domestic cricket. We must treat our players respectfully and not treat them like servants.”
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