Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. (FILE photo)
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar opined that it would have been better for star players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to participate in the Duleep Trophy. He would reason that lack of game time in the mid-thirties might weaken the “muscle memory” of players if they don’t play high standards for prolonged periods.
“The selectors have not picked the skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the Duleep Trophy so they will most likely go into the Bangladesh Test series without much match practice. Once a player hits the mid-thirties in any sport, then regular competition will help him maintain the high standards he has set,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for the mid-day.
India will play Bangladesh two-match Test series in September as part of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Rohit last played a red-ball game in the final Test against England in Dharmshala earlier this year whereas Kohli last appeared in the format for India in the New Year Test at Cape Town in South Africa. “When there’s a longish gap then the muscle memory weakens somewhat and to get back to the high standards from earlier is not easy,” Gavaskar added.
Gavaskar would also mention Bumrah and writes how it is understandable that the ace pacer needs to break but the batters need time in the middle. “While it’s understandable that somebody like Jasprit Bumrah with his delicate back needs to be handled with care, the batters could have done with some batting time out in the middle.
Indian team has been in a transitory period with the management hinting at looking past the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Earlier in the year during the series against England despite there having been a few middle-order injuries the team has tried to blood in the youngsters instead of falling back upon the veteran players despite piling up runs in domestic cricket at the time.
