Cricket
oi-Ashish Rana
The England ODI series is going to be a tough challenge for Rohit Sharma and also the last hope for him to be relevant in ODI squad of India. If Rohit Sharma fails in England series he is going to face a hard truth setback. According to a report of TOI, BCCI is planning to move ahead of Rohit Sharma if he fails to perform in England ODI series, and look out for future options.
The BCCI is reportedly considering future ODI options beyond Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul, potentially replacing them with players like Yashasvi Jaiswal if performance dips during or after the England series, despite captain Shubman Gill’s stated confidence.
Team Management Looking at Long-Term Transition
According to the report, not just Rohit Sharma, even Virat Kohli and KL Rahul are under pressure and BCCI is looking for their replacement also. BCCI is going to take this decision as these players only play limited over format that too majorly ODI from 2023 World Cup. With this planning, BCCI is thinking of rotating the experience players with their potential replacements.
This idea and decision was discussed after India’s ODI series against Zimbabwe last month, when Rohit was initially decided to be dropped from last ODI but Shubman Gill stood like a shield to him. Gill without dropping Rohit Sharma, decided to move down his position allowing Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma to open for India in the last match.
However, Yashasvi Jaiswal took the opportunity with both hands and scored century in the match, making sure his place in team after Rohit Sharma. According to the report, this performance made things easy for Gambhir and selection committee Jaiswal as the strongest contender to replace Rohit Sharma. Even the call can be taken in after the first match failure of Rohit Sharma in England series.
Gill Backs Rohit and Kohli Ahead of England Series
While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s future has been questioned multiple times, their captain Shubman Gill has shown confidence to both the players.
Shubman Gill while addressing the press conference before the match showed full confidence on Virat Kohli. He said, “In fact, just the day before yesterday, I was discussing our plans for the 2027 ODI World Cup with him. We talked about team combinations, which players could be part of the squad, which players could be crucial for us even if they aren’t part of the squad right now, and where each player would fit best within the team setup.”
Shubman Gill’s this statement gave the clarity how he is looking for a team with experience setup and now generation talent.
Rohit Has an Impressive Record in England
Keeping all the pressure aside, one thing that is in favour of Rohit Sharma is his record against England. Rohit Sharma has scored 1,428 runs in England with the average of 64.91 and strike of 90.78. This record includes his seven centuries which makes England his most successful overseas tours.
The report suggests, the team management wants Rohit Sharma to make sure in charge from the very first match rather than looking for the form in the last match. So, for that this tour is going to be the most important test for Rohit Sharma.
