The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been accused of giving “preferential treatment” to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after the two stalwarts failed to make a mark in the opening Test against Bangladesh at Chepauk.
Almost all the Indian Test cricketers participated in the Duleep Trophy 2024 to prepare for the Bangladesh series. However, the likes of Rohit, Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah were exempted.
While Bumrah, who was rested since the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph in June to manage his workload, returned with five wickets in the Chennai Test, Rohit and Kohli struggled to score runs in both innings.
Rohit scored just 11 runs in the match and Kohli amassed 23 runs. Despite their failures, India won the Test match by a huge margin of 280 runs.
After the game, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said that things would have been different for the duo had they participated in the Duleep Trophy.
Manjrekar also warned the selectors against giving special treatment to “certain players” as it could hurt Indian cricket and the player themselves.
“I'm not worried, but I'm sure somebody made a note of the fact that they would have been better off had they played some red-ball cricket. There was the option of picking them in the Duleep Trophy. So one has to be careful about treating certain players differently and do what's best for Indian cricket and for the player,” Manjrekar said in a conversation with ESPNcricinfo.
“Virat and Rohit not playing (Duleep Trophy) was not good for Indian cricket, nor was it good for the two players. Had they played the Duleep Trophy and had some time in the red-ball cricket, things would have been different. But they have the class and experience to make a comeback later in the series, and I don't see them, for that reason, not being in form. But something that one must make a quiet note of, and that has been a problem with Indian cricket for a long time now, is that certain players get picked out for special treatment because of their status, which eventually hurts that player more than anyone else,” he added.
Team India have taken an unassailable 1-0 lead in the two-match series with a comprehensive victory in the Chennai Test.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be determined to bounce back in the second Test against Bangladesh, starting on Friday (September 27) at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
