Kris Srikkanth has revealed that he feels sorry for Rohit Sharma for leaving him out of Team India’s 2011 World Cup squad when he was the chairman of the selection committee. The 2011 World Cup squad under MS Dhoni’s captaincy went on to create history and win the tournament, giving India its second World Cup after 28 years.

The then-BCCI selection committee had to make some tough decisions, keeping the conditions in mind. Rohit Sharma then batted in the middle order, but was one of the most talented batters going around. However, he was omitted from the Indian squad, not because of his ability with the bat, but due to team dynamics.

Kris Srikkanth, the BCCI's head of selectors at the time, disclosed that the choice was made solely based on team dynamics and the particular profile needed for the squad to compete in that World Cup.

He emphasized that the management used a strategy akin to the 1983 victory, emphasizing players with multifaceted abilities over specialists.

“I feel bad for him even today. I told Rohit last year, ‘I am sorry.' It's not on purpose, but it's just that we want to take those half all-rounders. Our thought process was similar to that of the 1983 World Cup,” Srikkanth said in an interview with The Week.

Srikkanth's plan focuses on increasing batting depth while keeping adequate bowling options in the team to jump in when needed, a technique similar to India's recent T20 World Cup 2026 victory. Yusuf Pathan was supposedly chosen over Rohit Sharma because of his finishing ability and off-spin bowling.  

“And at the end of the day, who was the Player of the Tournament? Yuvraj Singh, with the ball and bat. In some matches, Sehwag, Sachin, and Suresh Raina would have bowled a few overs. Even Yusuf Pathan is a half-all-rounder. So in all these things, unfortunately, what happened was this half-all-rounder concept, Rohit Sharma, the poor fellow, could not find a place. He was actually good enough to play in the 2011 World Cup, but poor boy missed out,” added Srikkanth.

Rohit Sharma had made his India debut in 2007 against Ireland and had scored over 1,200 runs in around 57 matches before the 2011 snub. Rohit Sharma is yet to win a 50-over ICC World Cup trophy, despite having two ICC Champions Trophy wins and two ICC T20 World Cups to his name.