"No more skipping Bilateral series" - BCCI set to take action against seniors who take unnecessary rest

BCCI reviews India's BGT series loss in Australia in the meeting held in Mumbai in the presence of Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar.

The last few months have been below par for the Indian cricket team. They have suffered an embarrassing series whitewash for the first time in history. It didn't stop there. After that, India also lost the highly recognised Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia for the first time in the last ten years.

That has forced the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) to review India's performance and take some strong decisions. In the recently concluded review meeting, the Indian Board has certainly taken some big decisions to make sure that all the players are available when the team needs them.

India have a big assignment coming up as they will be taking part in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, and it is important for Rohit Sharma and the team to do well. India will be playing a home series before the ICC events against England. They will play five T20Is and three ODIs.

BCCI to take action for unnecessary skipping Bilateral series - Reports

India lost the home series against New Zealand 0-3 and then suffered a 1-3 series loss in Australia. That raises questions on the future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. These two were part of both series, and their numbers didn't do justice to their stature in the teams. Both batters failed to get big scores, which was one of the reasons for India's underperformance.

Notably, in the review meeting held in Mumbai, where chief selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and captain Rohit Sharma were present, it was decided that no player will be allowed to take unnecessary rest from the bilateral series. That means any player can't pick and choose between the series that they don't want to play or not.

Earlier, seniors used to skip series, citing workload management, but it won't be the case from now on. The selection committee will decide which players should take a rest and which players will play. A source told PTI, "There was a detailed discussion on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy performance, what all went wrong, and the course correction required. But do not expect a hurried decision from the new dispensation of BCCI."

This decision might affect both Rohit and Virat. These two have missed a number of bilateral series in the past. Notably, there were some reports that these two might be rested for the coming ODI series against England. But they will be playing in the coming series now.

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