Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli last played a T20I in November 2022 (Twitter)
Return of premier stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to India's T20I outfit after a prolonged absence continues to polarise opinions. Even as legends Sunil Gavaskar and Sourav Ganguly backed the move to pick the duo for the series against Afghanistan, former wicketkeeper-batter Deep Dasgupta analysed and criticised the call taken by the BCCI and selection committee.
Rohit and Kohli, who last played a T20I for India during the semifinal loss against England at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, were handed a comeback on Sunday for the T20Is versus the Afghans, which makes it certain they will be picked also for the next edition of the biannual tournament in June in West Indies & USA.
Dasgupta Critical Of India's Kohli, Rohit U-Turn
The cricketer turned commentator reckons the pitches in the West Indies and USA may not be flattest and thus, there will be value of strike rotation and overall experience. However, the "intent" of the two batters continues to carry a huge question mark and the move as a whole takes India back to square one after investing time and energy in youth over the past 15 months.
"I was slightly surprised because I thought the team had moved on from Rohit and Kohli. The main criticism was the lack of intent from the senior players in the last T20 World Cup," Dasgupta told Star Sports."To be very honest, I do not find any direction here for India in the last one year. If they had to go back to Kohli and Rohit...given the squads we had in the last one year, it is like going back to square one."
Dasgupta underlined the potential repercussions of Kohli and Rohit's comeback to the T20I squad and how it is set to deny the promising young talents (such as Rinku Singh) their due opportunity at the top and in the middle of the batting unit.
"You will get plenty of top-order batters, but there are rarely batters who can perform at No. 7 or 8. Rinku and Tilak might play against Afghanistan, but going forward, when Hardik and Surya will be available, I feel Rinku and Tilak will both miss out," Dasgupta added.
Dasgupta reminded everyone why it's a backward step in India's journey as a T20I outfit, having faced the brunt of the two greats' slow-going ways at the crease in the shortest format when they got stuck on a flat pitch at the Adelaide Oval and India were found short of a desired score versus England.
 "Kashish Chadha")
