CHENNAI: When Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli walked off the field at the Adelaide Oval after losing to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal, if you had thought that could be it for them in T20Is, you would not have been mistaken. Rohit was 35, Kohli was 34 and they had an ODI World Cup and World Test Championship coming.
What more, the next generation had been pushing for a chance in the Indian Premier League with a captain waiting in Hardik Pandya. That the BCCI and selectors went with it in the New Zealand tour immediately after the T20 WC, and the bilateral series that followed indicated that India are moving on, entering a transition in the T20I format with youngsters getting opportunities. And they did make the most of it.
Since the last T20 World Cup, Suryakumar Yadav still tops the run-getter list, but Ruturaj Gaikwad (average 60 and strike rate 147.17), Yashasvi Jaiswal (avg 33 and SR 159.25), Shubman Gill (avg 26 and SR 145.11) Tilak Varma (avg 34.44 and SR 141.55) and Rinku Singh (avg 65.5 and 180.68 SR) have been the show stealers. It seemed like India are preparing a new T20I team that had a fresh outlook with a proactive batting line-up.
However, 14 months, 25 T20Is, and eight series later, Rohit and Kohli are all set to make a comeback in the shortest format for the three T20Is against Afghanistan that is to be played from January 11. Now, it does not come as a shock as the talks of the duo playing T20Is again began shortly after India lost to Australia in the ODI World Cup final. While Rohit, on multiple occasions, indicated that there will be answers soon for the question of whether he is keen to play the T20 World Cup, Kohli had kept mum throughout.
While there were multiple arguments on either side of the spectrum as to whether or not Rohit and Kohli should be included there could be various factors as to why the selectors have decided to lean on the side of playing both. For starters, in the time since the ODI World Cup ended, Pandya has been out of action with injury, SKY, who led the team against Australia and SA, suffered an ankle injury and is still recovering, and so is Gaikwad.
Which means, going into the series India would have had to name their fourth captain since Rohit’s last T20I after Pandya, Bumrah and SKY. Hardik — who has replaced Rohit as Mumbai Indians captain — is expected to return to action in the IPL, and Bumrah, along with Mohammed Siraj who is rested, is going to play five Tests before entering the IPL meaning there is a void at the top (read captaincy). And that is not a good sign for a side with an abundant pool of players and resources in the lead up to a global event. Which means, having Rohit at the top, and as a captain, seems to be the safer option, especially after the way he batted in the ODI World Cup.
Now, what this means to the current squad is that Rohit could open with Jaiswal with Kohli to follow at No. 3. Then comes Tilak, Rinku and Jitesh Sharma in the middle. With Axar Patel being a starter, it would come down to Ravi Bishnoi or Washington Sundar and the pace attack. Gill is still waiting if one hadn’t noticed. And, what would happen when Pandya and SKY come back? Who will make space? Will they make Rohit and Kohli open with SKY and Pandya coming in for Tilak and Jaiswal? Or will Jaiswal remain at top and Rinku makes way? Where does Jitesh fit in with Sanju Samson making the cut? Is there room for KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant if they do well in the IPL? One could keep going, but the press release does not have any answers.
While the squad they have named works well for the Afghanistan series, at the moment, there are more questions than answers about the Indian T20I team.