'Don't think you will see Kohli, Rohit, Rahul play T20Is': After Shastri, Aakash Chopra's '90 days timeline' ultimatum
Shastri revealed that India have to move on from Kohli and Rohit. Aakash Chopra spoke much on the same lines as he issued a '90 days timeline' ultimatum.
The T20 format is fast changing. At least that is what IPL 2023 has taught us so far. On the batting front, anchor-style players are quickly becoming redundant, metrics like strike rate and boundary percentage are becoming more valuable in measuring a batter's capability in the format. And with IPL 2023 throwing a plethora of such options for the Indian team, questions about the future of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul are increasingly gaining importance, especially at the fag end of the tournament. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, recently revealed that India have to move on from Kohli and Rohit. Aakash Chopra spoke much on the same lines as he issued a '90 days timeline' ultimatum.
Some of the stunning options that IPL 2023 has thrown to the Indian selectors are Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma and Tilak Varma. Shastri, in conversation with ESPNCricinfo, in fact, wanted the selection committee to "start blooding them right now". He then added: "Players like Rohit, Virat Kohli, they are proven, you know what they are all about. I would go in that [good performers in the IPL] direction so that they get the opportunities, they get the exposure."
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Chopra, an IPL expert on Jio Cinema, reiterated Shastri's thoughts when asked about Rahul's T20I future amid the rise of Yashasvi and the presence of options like Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill. He admitted that if India stick to their aggressive brand of cricket in the T20I format which they had promised in the last T20 World Cup then the likes of Rohit, Kohli and Rahul will find it difficult to adjust to the template.
"I won't see his (Rahul's) case to be in isolation in any way, to begin with. I feel the next generation of cricketers for this format is almost getting ready and the previous generation of players will find it increasingly difficult to be a part of the new template. If India, as they said in the last T20 World Cup that they are looking for a new template to play T20 cricket in, continue to play in the same fashion, you will see a lot of the previous generation players not being part of the T20 scheme of things," he told Hindustan Times.
"This is an ODI World Cup year so anyway India will be playing fewer T20I games in the remaining year, but whatever matches they play, I don't think you will see Kohli, Rohit or Rahul play. You don't even know when Rahul will actually be available. That is why I'm saying, things will change in the next 90 days," he added.
- 'Yashasvi, Rinku aren't just a T20 phenomenon' -
Two names that have remained a constant in the discussion of which uncapped players will make the Indian team after the IPL are Yashasvi and Rinku Singh. But Aakash feels that the conversation pertaining to the two players shouldn't be restricted to just T20 cricket, as he highlighted their domestic numbers to explain that they can be all-format stars for India.
"For Yashasvi I have in fact kept a timeline. I feel he will be in the Indian team in the next 90 days. The other one I feel is Rinku Singh and it is time to take him a lot more seriously. Those five sixes weren't a fluke. He has scored around 400 or more runs and the strike rate at which they have been scored and from that batting position, there is no other option available. Remember, these two aren't just a T20 phenomenon. Rinku has a first-class average of 60 while Yashasvi has scored over 1000 runs in his short domestic career so far. So they have been performing in other formats at as well it is just that the world tends to focus more on a player when it happens in the IPL," he said.
