The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar is set to have a serious discussion with India captain Rohit Sharma about his future in white-ball formats. India recently lost the ICC World Cup 2023 final to Australia at home.
As per reports, the hot topic of discussion would be about getting clarity on Rohit’s white-ball future along with grooming a captain for the future.
Rohit Sharma has reportedly told the selectors that he is fine with not being considered for T20Is as the selectors are keen to invest in young blood. Now the question remains how Rohit sees his ODI career.
Rohit will be nearly 40 by the time the next ODI World Cup arrives in South Africa in 2027. The next big ODI tournament will be the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025 which is scheduled to be held in Pakistan. In the next one year, India is slated to play only six ODIs.
“Before the ODI World Cup, Rohit had communicated that he was fine not being considered for T20Is. The selectors have been investing heavily in youth in T20Is for the last one year. With the T20 World Cup happening in June next year, they are reluctant to deviate from that strategy,” a BCCI source told Times of India.
India is slated to play three ODIs in South Africa next month before a two-Test series. ODIs could be a good chance for the Test players to get acclimatized to South African conditions. It has been reported that BCCI and selectors will get down to firming up a plan for ODIs only after the next IPL and T20 World Cup.
One of the major challenges is grooming a new captain for long term. Rohit Sharma is set for captaincy till the 2025 WTC cycle in Tests. But selectors have an eye on a new captain in white-ball owing to Hardik Pandya’s injury issues.
“As of now, it seems Rohit will be focusing a lot of his energy on the Test format for the next cycle of the World Test Championship which runs till 2025. Grooming a captain for the longer formats is a key part of the agenda. With Hardik Pandya prone to injuries, selectors may look for options in ODIs,” the source claimed.
The selection committee is clear that it wants to move on and create a pool of players. This is the reason why the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Sanju Samson were ignored for upcoming Australia T20Is.
(Times of India inputs)
