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Kohli, Rohit urged to play Vijay Hazare for ODI selection: How has it exposed Agarkar's hypocrisy

Anurag Dasgupta

Injustice with Rohit, Kohli [Source: AFP Photo] Injustice with Rohit, Kohli [Source: AFP Photo]

Saturday turned out to be an eventful day for Indian cricket fans as the RO-KO jodi (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) are back in the ODI team for the upcoming Australia tour. The pair last played for India during the Champions Trophy win, and after almost eight months, they’ll be making a rousing comeback in the format they love the most.

However, it won’t be an understatement to say that Rohit and Virat’s comeback was marred by controversy, with chief selector Ajit Agarkar outlining the future for India’s two greatest ODI batters. Ajit Agarkar is firm on his stance, if you want to play the ODIs, go back to the domestic setup, grind hard, and play in whites again.

"We've made it clear that whenever the players are available, they should be playing domestic cricket," said Agarkar in a press conference, in response to a question on whether Kohli or Rohit need to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy to stay in contention for selection.

Ajit Agarkar hypocrisy exposed

Isn’t this hypocrisy by the chief selector of the Indian men’s cricket team?. Now, two of the best white-ball players of their generation have to prove their ODI credentials by playing in domestic cricket.

Ask the Australian team, will they accept a 36-year-old Kohli and 38-year-old Rohit in their ODI setup right now?. The answer will be a big yes. Ask any other top sides in world cricket, and they would gracefully invite Kohli and Rohit to play in their team. As a matter of fact, many top sides crave for players of such calibre, but they do not have them.

So, Rohit, with an ODI average of nearly 48, and Kohli with an average of nearly 58, have to prove their class by going it back to the Vijay Hazare Trophy. If domestic cricket is the merit to play for India’s ODI team, then what is Harshit Rana doing in the side?.

Ironically, he is India’s only all-format player, and the pacer was handpicked in all three formats despite having moderate performances in the IPL and domestic cricket. The question also arises, why was Dhruv Jurel suddenly picked in the team?. The keeper was rewarded for his Test performances and was not picked on the basis of his List-A exploits.

The chief selector clearly talks about going back to the domestic circuit to get in the ODI setup, but ironically, most of the players in the side were not selected on the basis of their 50-over stats.

Do Kohli, and Rohit really need to prove their mettle?

Arguably the greatest ODI batter of all-time, Kohli, and arguably the most destructive white-ball batter of the last generation, Rohit, have been advised to grind hard and prove their worth, but do they really have anything to prove to Agarkar?.

Rohit, and Kohli were the two best batters in the last two 50-overs tournaments, with Kohli scoring 765 runs in the 2023 World Cup and Rohit accumulating 597 runs. Also, the duo was instrumental in India’s Champions Trophy triumph, with Kohli winning the semi-finals for India, and Rohit helping India win the grand finale against the Kiwis.

So, two players who are still at the peak of their powers have been urged to toil hard, or face the consequences. There is nothing left for ROKO to prove, but if the Australia series is the last dance for them, then it could be India’s loss in the long run.