Photo Credit: Instagram Photo of @sanjaysphotos
Following India captain Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli‘s poor performance in the first Test of the two-match series against Bangladesh in Chennai last week, the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI selection committee has been accused of showing “preferential treatment” to the two, which critics claim has “hurt Indian cricket and the players.”
Unlike most Indian players selected for the Bangladesh Test series, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah were not included in the Duleep Trophy, a preparatory event for the players. Bumrah, rested since the T20 World Cup win in June, returned with strong figures, including 4 for 50 in the opening innings at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
In contrast, Rohit and Kohli struggled, with Rohit scoring only 11 runs and Kohli, who last played a Test in January and a home Test in February last year, managing just 21 runs. Despite their struggles, India won the match by 280 runs, thanks to Ravichandran Ashwin’s all-round brilliance and centuries from Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.
Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar suggested that Rohit and Kohli might have performed better had they participated in the Duleep Trophy.
He expressed confidence that the two experienced players would regain their form in the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur later this week. However, he cautioned the selectors against giving “special treatment” to certain players due to their “status,” as this could “hurt Indian cricket and the players.”
He stated: “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. 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.”
In 2024, Virat Kohli has batted four times, accumulating just 81 runs, causing his career average to drop to an eight-year low of 48.74. At home, the 35-year-old has scored only 401 runs in seven Tests since the start of 2022, including a lone century—186 against Australia last year. In Asia, he has totaled 654 runs in 23 innings since 2021, with just one hundred and two fifties, averaging only 29.72.
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