‘Annoying!’: Fans on Twitter criticise decision to rest Virat Kohli,Rohit Sharma for 2nd ODI

Pandya said during the toss that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were rested as they have been playing plenty of cricket and also an opportunity to give opportunities to other team members of the squad. Sanju Samson and Axar Patel replaced the veteran duo in the line-up.

“Ro (Rohit Sharma) and Virat (Kohli) have been playing constant cricket. We thought they should rest for this game and be fresh for the third ODI. So, that’s just it, they’re resting and making sure the opportunity is given to the other guys,” said Hardik further.

The decision didn’t please too many fans, who took to Twitter to vent their frustration as some also felt that BCCI is conspiring to purposely sideline Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the team in the build-up to the World Cup. Some fans also questioned the logic behind resting the players as they felt the senior players need game time before World Cup, October 5 to November 19 in India.

You Can’t rest important players who will part of the world cup, they need game time, kohli just got his form back and Rohit struggling to score big, I don’t understand this logic of resting player pic.twitter.com/0lHv1urHTz

— G D (@Kingkohli18era) July 29, 2023

Bcci are trying to club Rohit and Virat again in every format!

Virat can easily play 2027 wc (38) which is not possible for Rohit (40)…
But Bcci will remove both together like t20i even if Virat scores planty..

Annoying ???? Virat will not get much odi now

— Cricket_tak_ICT???????? (@KingOfCrick) July 29, 2023

To rohit and virat fans,

Mentally prepare yourselves to see both getting rested even in a WC game????

— Ashwin rohit❤️ (@ashwin_ro) July 29, 2023

Indians will troll Kohli/Rohit but face it without we can’t reach knockouts also: WI didn’t even qualify for WC???? pic.twitter.com/6SwDV1N6UX

— Vincent Dsouza (@codeConjuror) July 29, 2023

One day????????????????????#Rohit #Kohli #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/ErCMZeI43Z

— Javith (@JavithJ1) July 29, 2023

What are India doing with their team selection just a few months from the ODI World Cup? It’s baffling as to why Rohit & Virat are resting. Don’t they need match practice & confidence before the World Cup? Total mess. #ViratKohli???? #RohitSharma???? #INDvsWI #WorldCup2023

— Thomson Dcruz (@DcruzThomson) July 29, 2023

After this series, Rohit & Virat going to play directly on 2nd Sept, that’s a straight 1 month gap, usme rest hi rest h lekin nhi valuables ODIs me rest lekar bs time barbad Krna h ????

— Aftab. (@aftab_cena) July 29, 2023

This is the reality of Indian batting without Virat and Rohit.
Rohit provides a great start and Virat plays till the end and made other players play around him.#SanjuSamson #Rohit #ViratKohli #INDvWI

— Suryansh Pundir (@SuryanshPundir3) July 29, 2023

????Indian???????? cricket Team without ????virat kohli and ????Rohit Sharma……????
☠Shame on Rohit Sharma captaincy (Rest culture)????……….????????‍????#indvswi #Cricket #virat #RohitSharma #captaincy pic.twitter.com/rDHd3p4RsA

— ØM B̧HÉÑ.???????? (@BISHENOM) July 29, 2023

We laughed when WI didn’t qualify for CWC, this might happen to us in the next CWC without Rohit and Virat!

— Atharv (@AtharvK_28) July 29, 2023

The criticism turned harsher after the Indian order failed to click during the third ODI. India were down to 133/5 before rain interrupted play while Sanju Samson could only score 9 runs on the day before dismissal.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma didn’t play much of a role in the first ODI either as the captain came out to bat as low as seventh while Virat Kohli didn’t get to bat at all in a run chase of 115 runs. It was seen as a bizarre call by many fans while some saw it as a light day at work for the duo.