Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been the stalwarts of Indian cricket for the last decade with the duo contributing to some of the grandest victories of Indian cricket. However, a recent report by Telegraph had shocked the cricketing community by noting that Virat Kohli may have to make way for a young generation of aggressive players in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Now, former Indian cricketer and politician Kirti Azad has claimed that Rohit Sharma has told the BCCI that the Indian team needs Virat Kohli at any cost and the official announcement regarding Kohli’s selection for the upcoming World Cup will be made before the team selection.
Citing sources to reveal the information via his X account (formerly Twitter) , Azad said, “If sources are to be believed, Ajit Agarkar was neither able to convince himself nor the other selectors. Jay Shah asked Rohit Sharma too, but Rohit said we need Virat Kohli at any cost. Virat Kohli will play the T20 World Cup, and its official announcement will be made before the team selection,”
Notably, both Virat and Rohit had been out of the Indian T20 squad since the Men in Blue’s heartbreaking performance T20 World Cup of 2022. A new Indian team with youngsters like Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Shivam Dube had been formulated under the leadership of Hardik Pandya.
However, soon after the end of ODI World Cup 2023, BCCI announced that Rohit Sharma will be leading the Indian side in the T20 World Cup slated to be held in June while no official word was given regarding the presence of Virat Kohli in the T20 squad. Subsequently, the duo made their comeback in T20 cricket in January this year with the 3 match series against Afghanistan.
A report by Telegraph recently claimed that Ajit Agargkar led selection committe is looking to replace Virat Kohli in the T20 squad with a newer and more aggressive batter. The report also noted that only a superlative effort from the batting legend in the upcoming season of IPL could save his place in the Indian T20 squad.
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Published: 17 Mar 2024, 11:42 AM IST