Virat Kholi. (Photo | AP)
Fool me once,” a wise person once said, “shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” As the Indian cricket board announced the T20 team for the three-match series against Afghanistan, it was not hard to reflect on the quote. India has carried superstars over the last four T20 World Cups. Those superstars have had their own ways of batting, sticking to their methods and going against the world. The result, predictably, has not gone in their favour. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are giants of the sport, but there is no place for sentiment in a format as dynamic as T20.
The last four T20 world cups have seen both Rohit and Kohli featuring in line-ups that have frequently punched below their weight. Both have either failed a number of times or led teams where conservatism directly resulted in lop-sided defeats in big games. Over the last 14 months or so, the BCCI was perhaps prepared to embrace the future by giving the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma extended runs in the side at the expense of Rohit and Kohli.
But it looks like they were keeping the seats warm for Kohli and Rohit, who have not featured in T20Is since the 2022 World Cup. The BCCI had reasons to not pick them last year, but if senior players are allowed to pick the matches they want to play in then this selection will set a bad precedent. This, of course, happened in the past when Sachin Tendulkar was allowed to carry on in ODIs and Tests. This can be discouraging for the country’s young players. They can score tonnes of runs in the IPL or in bilaterals, but when push comes to shove, the management will go back to the elephants in the room. What seems intriguing is that Rohit has been brought back as captain 14 months after his last match in the format. Injuries to Hardik Pandya, who was leading in T20Is in the absence of Rohit, and explosive batter Suryakumar Yadav have only complicated matters for the BCCI.
India does have the strength but lacks the intent to make radical changes. Instead, they preferred to play safe. The BCCI may be the world’s richest cricketing body, but it needs a lesson in something fundamental—picking a side to win the World Cup.
