Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli unlikely to be selected for T20Is; Hardik Pandya to continue as captain: Report

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s days as T20 international players are reportedly over. The veteran duo have shouldered the burden of Indian cricket for more than a decade now but the BCCI is planning to blood young players in the T20I format with an eye on the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. According to an NDTV report, Hardik Pandya is likely to be made the long-term captain in the shortest format.

Focus on young blood

The new BCCI selection committee, led by Chetan Sharma, which was appointed on January 7, is likely to hold talks with Virat and Rohit regarding their T20I future, sources said. "BCCI wants a young team under Hardik Pandya for T20Is," sources said. Hardik Pandya was made the captain of the Indian T20I side for the recently-concluded three-match series against Sri Lanka and that had led to speculation that Rohit's time as the T20I skipper might be coming to end. Both Rohit and Viratwere rested from the T20I squad against Sri Lanka while they were named in the ODI squad.

Rohit Sharma available for T20s

On Monday, on the eve of the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati, Rohit, however, said that he wants to continue playing the shortest format. "We have only six T20Is, three are over. So we'll manage, you know to look after those boys till IPL. Then we'll see what happens after the IPL. But certainly, I've not decided to give up the format," Rohit said. Rohit added that a new look team had played the T20Is against Sri Lanka due to workload management of some of the senior players. "If you look at the schedule, there were back-to-back matches, so we decided to look at some players' workload. We wanted to make sure that they get enough break time and manage them. I definitely fall in that (category) as well," Rohit said.