IND v AUS 2020: 'You are talking about a player like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is saying he doesn't know anything' - Ashish Nehra
India captain Virat Kohli recently admitted that he and his team had no clue that Rohit Sharma won’t be travelling with them to Australia. Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra has slammed the growing controversy, and hit out at the lack of communication among the top brass.
Rohit Sharma was initially left out of the squad for all three formats to face Australia owing to a hamstring injury, before being added to the Test setup. But to the team’s surprise, their vice-captain chose to return to Mumbai post IPL 2020 and then work on his left hamstring at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
Though the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a statement that Rohit Sharma wanted to stay close to his ailing father, Ashish Nehra sounded surprised about the captain of a team not knowing the whereabouts of his players.
“Like everyone, even I am surprised and disappointed. I don’t understand this. You are talking about a player like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is saying he doesn’t know anything. For me, this is very sad. This shouldn’t happen these days. Technology is available for you and the concerned people should have communicated properly in this case,” Nehra told Cricbuzz.
‘We had no information on the reason behind Rohit Sharma not flying to Australia,’ said Virat Kohli
In an online press conference on the eve of the first ODI, Virat Kohli said that all of them expected Rohit Sharma to board the flight to Sydney, especially after he smashed a 51-ball 68 in the IPL final.
Notably, sources in the know of things said “nobody in the BCCI knows who asked Rohit to head to the NCA”.
“Well, before we had the selection meeting in Dubai, we got a mail two days before which said that Rohit is unavailable for selection because of the injury he picked during the IPL. It mentioned a two-week rest and rehab period, and it said that the pros and cons of the injury were explained to Rohit and he understood that."
“It was the information we got by mail but after that he played in the IPL. We all thought that he would be on the flight to Australia which he wasn’t and we had no information on the reason behind him not flying to Australia,” Virat Kohli elaborated.
India lost the first ODI by 66 runs, and it is safe to say that the visitors are missing Rohit Sharma’s presence and experience at the top of the order.