Team India’s former captain Mohammed Azharuddin has lambasted the current skippers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for not being clear about their availability across formats ahead of a crucial tour of South Africa. The Men in Blue are scheduled to take on the Proteas from December 26, although there have been a few hiccups along the road.
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Firstly, the BCCI decided to remove Virat Kohli as the ODI skipper and gave the captaincy to Rohit Sharma, stating that there can’t be two captains across T20 and ODI formats. For the unversed, Kohli had earlier stepped down as the skipper in T20I format after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup earlier this year.
Rohit Sharma then led India to a 3-0 series win against New Zealand in the T20I series at home, and subsequently, owing to his good run of form in the purest form of cricket, he was promoted to vice-captain in the Test format as well. However, Rohit had missed the Test series against New Zealand, while Kohli only played in the last of the two matches against the Kiwis.
Now, in the latest turn of events, Rohit has been sidelined from the upcoming Test series versus South Africa through an injury, while Kohli has reportedly, asked for a break after the Tests as he wishes to be with his family, for the first birthday celebration of his daughter Vamika.
Team India will be playing 3 Test matches against the Proteas from December 26 to January 15, while the 3 match ODI series will be played between January 19 to January 23. Subsequently, former Indian skipper, Mohammed Azharuddin came down heavily on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for their behaviour ahead of the tour of South Africa.
The veteran tweeted that the pair should have been clear about their availability and that such behaviour will only add fuel to the speculation about a rift between the two skippers.
Azhar wrote, “Virat Kohli has informed that he’s not available for the ODI series & Rohit Sharma is unavailable fr d upcoming test. There is no harm in taking a break but d timing has to be better. This just substantiates speculation abt d rift. Neither will be giving up another form of cricket.”
In the meanwhile, Team India have included Priyank Panchal as Rohit Sharma’s replacement for the Test series, while it remains to be seen whether Rohit can return in time for the ODI series or not.
