How India performed without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in T20Is since World Cup 2022. What happens as they return?
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to India's T20I squad for the Afghanistan series. How did India perform when they were not there for more than a year?
With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma embracing their twilight phases in international cricket, the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup promises to be the 'Last Dance' of the iconic duo in ICC events. In its most recent ICC event, India suffered another heartbreak as Rohit and Co. failed to cross the final hurdle last year. Recording a perfect ten in the 2023 World Cup, India suffered its first defeat of the tournament in the final against Australia - a trounce that extended the decade-long wait for an ICC trophy.
While Rohit guided Team India to the final of the ICC event, run-machine Kohli led the batting charge of the hosts at the grandest stage. Kohli smashed a plethora of records and finished the tournament as the top run-getter. Leading the hosts from the front, skipper Rohit bagged the second spot on the run-scoring charts. After an impressive campaign with the bat, Rohit and Kohli were rested for the entire white-ball leg of the South Africa series.
Rohit and Kohli headline India's final T20I series before World Cup
The duo returned for the Test series and guided the visitors to a historic win over South Africa at Cape Town. Fresh from India's series-levelling win over the Proteas, Rohit and Kohli were recalled in the T20I squad for the Afghanistan series. The duo last played a T20I at the 2022 edition of the World Cup in Australia. India's heartbreaking defeat to eventual champions England in the semi-final was the last time Kohli and Rohit featured in a T20I game.
Rise of Hardik Pandya the leader
A lot has changed since Kohli and Rohit last played T20 cricket at the highest level. Champions in the 2007 editions of the ICC World Cup, Team India witnessed 12 changing of guards since legendary opener Virender Sehwag captained the Men In Blue for the first time in the shortest format back in 2006. The rapid rise of Hardik Pandya as a leader fast-tracked his entry into the leadership group at Team India. Hardik became Rohit's deputy and India's stand-in skipper after the Mumbai Indians (MI) captain propelled Gujarat Titans (GT) to IPL glory in 2022. India played most of its T20I cricket with Hardik at the helm following the 2022 World Cup.
Passing the captaincy baton
Pandya led India in 16 T20Is and won 10 games as captain. Versatile batter KL Rahul also captained India in a single T20I in 2022. Interestingly, Team India had seven captains in 2022. Making his return to international cricket in 2023, pacer Jasprit Bumrah was also appointed the leader of India for the three-match Ireland series. Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad also captained India in 3 T20Is last year. The captaincy baton was passed to top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav, who captained the Pandya-less Team India in the 2023 South Africa series. Surya and Hardik are nursing their injuries as the former skippers were unavailable for Afghanistan T20Is.
How did Team India perform without Rohit-Kohli?
Overall, India have played 25 T20Is since Kohli and Rohit last featured for the Men In Blue. They have won 16 of those and suffered defeats in seven. One game ended in a tie, and a solitary game was abandoned. India achieved a win percentage of 64 per cent in the absence of Rohit and Kohli. India also had an impressive home record as the Asian giants won 11 games and lost just three. India had a win percentage of 72.73 at home since 2022. When it comes to playing the shortest format away from home, India won 8 and lost four from 14 games. The 2007 World Cup winners achieved a win percentage of 57.14 in away games.
