"Don't think Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's T20I cricket is over" - Salman Butt
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt feels Team India have still not moved on from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the shortest format. The veteran duo haven't played a single T20I since India's embarrassing 10-wicket defeat to England in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Ever since that defeat, both Rohit and Kohli have played just six ODIs, three each against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Although youngsters like Shubman Gill have done well in the shortest format, Butt feels the aforementioned duo have been serial match-winners for India and won't be let go so easily.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, here's what Salman Butt had to say in this regard:
"I don't think Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's T20I cricket is over. Just because they were rested against New Zealand and other youngsters did well, doesn't mean you will forget the veterans altogether."
Rahul Dravid comments on resting Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
Meanwhile, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has revealed the reason for resting senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from T20Is. He stressed that no one in the team management has decided to move on from the two. Dravid explained why it was important to rest them with a four-match Test series against Australia coming up.
Here's what Dravid said before the T20Is against New Zealand last week:
"There are certain priorities that we need to give to certain white-ball tournaments at a particular time. With the amount of cricket we are playing – a four-match Test series vs Australia which is a potential qualifier for the World Test Championship Final – there are certain white-ball tournaments that we must prioritize."
He added:
"The priority after the last T20 World Cup is these six (ODI) games and Virat has played all these games. He will get a bit of a break along with Rohit and one or two other guys, where we’ll play some T20 cricket. They’ll come refreshed and we have a good week’s camp before we play Australia."
Will Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli play T20I cricket for India again? Let us know in the comments.