BCCI unlikely to consider Rohit, Kohli for T20Is; Hardik Pandya to take over as India’s white ball captain: Report

Team India’s dynamic duo of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli may have played their last T20Is for the national side. The veteran pair has not featured in the format since the T20 World Cup, and now, according to reports, both Kohli and Rohit are unlikely to be selected for the Indian team in the future. This news comes just a day after Rohit declared in the pre-match press conference that he has not given up on the format just yet.

According to a report in The Indian Express, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma may not be selected for the T20Is, despite both having expressed their availability. The report further suggested that, even though they are available, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may ask them to reconsider their future in the format. This matter is set to be discussed by the selection panel in the coming days when they meet to pick the squads for the New Zealand series, which will commence shortly after the Sri Lanka ODIs.

With the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the ICC Cricket World Cup both scheduled for 2023, senior players have been instructed to prioritize the longer formats, as Rohit Sharma emphasized in the press conference. This is one of the reasons why a youthful side, captained by Hardik Pandya, has been leading Team India in the T20I series since the T20 World Cup and is set to continue in the near future, as workload management will be essential in such a hectic year.

“At the moment I think it was made clear in the past that it’s a 50-over World Cup year for us. And for some of the guys, it’s not possible to play all formats. If you look at the schedule, there were back-to-back matches, so we decided to just look at some players’ workload that we wanted to make sure that they get enough break time and manage them. I definitely fall in that as well. We have three T20Is against New Zealand. We will see what happens after IPL. I have not decided to give up the format,” Rohit said ahead of the first ODI.

Following the T20 World Cup debacle, several reports suggested that Hardik, who had become Rohit’s deputy in the ODIs, would be given a fresh team to captain for the 2024 T20 World Cup and be given ample time to form a cohesive unit. Since then, there have been numerous signs and indications that Hardik would take the helm in the shortest format, yet Rohit’s comments on Monday painted a different picture.

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