While the Indian team was battling it out against Bangladesh in the second semi final last night, BCCI went out and released the squad for the upcoming West Indies tour. The crux of the team remained the same, with Virat, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Dhawan, Jaddu and Aswhin selected, there were two notable absentees in Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma. Rishab Pant and Kuldeep Yadav have been drafted in instead.
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The idea to rest Bumrah seems like a good one, as he has been on the tour for a long time and deserves some time off, but Rohit Sharma’s omission came as a bit of a surprise, as he had made his way into the team after a long injury layoff, and it seemed like the West Indies tour would really help him find his way back into the international circuit.
Virat Kohli in his post match press conference went out and justified the reason for resting Rohit Sharma, saying that he had just had a hip surgery and would need some time to recuperate after an arduous Champions Trophy campaign.
“Rohit has come back and really had a full IPL season, which has been hectic. The Mumbai Indians reached the final, so he got lesser rest than anyone else. Plus he had a massive hip surgery, so muscles around that area are always vulnerable, and today also he felt a bit of stiffness in his right knee,” Kohli said in the post match presser.
“There is no doubt about Rohit’s ability and what he brings to the team. We need to protect him going further, because latter half of the year we have massive tours coming up, and his batting contribution will be a huge factor for us. So we want him to be careful because after a massive surgery you do need to be careful. If you push yourself a little too hard then it snaps again, you’re out for seven, eight months.”
“It is a conscious decision by everyone to give him a break. He is making the most of the form he is in right now. And I’m sure he also knows and understands the whole situation,” Kohli added.
The fact that Rohit received less time to prepare for the Champions Trophy seems like a plausible one, but we are sure he would have liked some game time in the Carribean.
