Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin has opined that Virat Kohli should have thought of better timing to take a break from ODI cricket. The response came after the reports claimed that Virat Kohli will take a rest for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa.
Of late, the Indian cricket board has been exposed at the receiving end of the Indian ODI captaincy turbulence. The BCCI recently named Rohit Sharma to be the captain of India’s white-ball team.
Now, Virat is only the commander of India’s test team. He relinquished his T20I leadership before the T20 World Cup 2021. The BCCI and selectors wanted a single captain for the white-ball format and hence decided to remove Virat from his ODI roles. Rohit Sharma was selected as the leader of the T20I and ODI.
Recently a few reports claimed that Virat Kohli has informed the BCCI that he will be skipping the upcoming three matches ODI series against South Africa. Kohli wants to celebrate his daughter’s first birthday with the family which apparently coincides with the ODI series.
Commenting on the same, Mohad Azharuddin posted a Tweet that read:
“Virat Kohli has informed that he’s not available for the ODI series & Rohit Sharma is unavailable for the upcoming test. There is no harm in taking a break but the timing has to be better. This just substantiates speculation about the rift. Neither will be giving up the other form of cricket.”
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The situation became more volatile as the BCCI, a day earlier, ruled out Rohit Sharma for the upcoming three matches test series against South Africa owing to his hamstring injury. Sources believe that the injury will further rule Rohit out from the ODI matches as well, however, a proper statement on Rohit Sharma’s injury is yet to come.
The BCCI has awarded a maiden test call-up to Gujrat opener Priyank Panchal following the ill-timed injury to Rohit Sharma.
It is noteworthy that Rohit Sharma was also named as the deputy to Virat Kohli in the test format. As of now, the BCCI hasn’t named any stand-in vice-captain for the red-ball format.
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