India: Kohli and Rohit not included for NZ T20Is, is it the end of the road for the duo?

India captain Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli are missing from the T20I squad against the Blackcaps. Hardik Pandya has been appointed as the captain again for the shortest game format.

India have opted a new policy of adding fresh blood for the T20I format. Players with relatively younger ages and specialities in the format have been chosen of late.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma played the T20I format for the last time in the T20 World Cup last year in Australia. Kohli had an outstanding tournament as he was the highest run-scorer for India. Rohit Sharma didn’t have the best of tournaments but recently said that he is not giving up the format yet.

BCCI has gone with Hardik Pandya in the past couple of series as the Indian captain. The New Zealand away series in last December was skipped by Pandya, so was the recently-concluded Sri Lanka series at home, the first assignment of 2023.

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As the Kiwis come to the fray once again, both Kohli and Rohit have found themselves missing from the action. It is unclear whether the players requested a rest from the action, because given the amount of cricket they have played in the past couple of months, rest is not much of a warrant.

BCCI’s new blueprint leading to the ICC World Cup later this year ensures players are not overworked. The array of cricketing commitments have led to injuries for several Indian players in the past year or so. And BCCI is trying to tackle that issue by managing the stress level of the players. So leaving out the veteran duo may well be a part of that strategy.

With Kohli and Rohit playing in the ODIs and Tests, for now, makes sense for the Indian team. It is quite evident that India don’t have any shortage of talent across all format. Overworking those two can lead to an unaffordable problem for India, and ahead of the World Cup, it is not recommended. The accident of Rishabh Pant has already jeopardized his World Cup hopes, thus giving a huge blow to India. Hence anything negative regarding Kohli and Rohit will be unimaginable.

Perhaps that is the reason the selectors are playing things safe. They perhaps want to allow them leeway from other commitments, which will ensure optimum effort and fitness during the World Cup.

But in hindsight, the lack of T20I exposure can have its ill-effects as the players may find it difficult to force their way into the squad later. With the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and other players already blossoming in the format, it will by no means be easy for both Rohit and Virat to come back straight into the team. But it won’t be a huge sacrifice if this means India lift the World Cup at home later this year. The idea looks crystal clear, but alongside, there resides a huge conundrum.