Senior Players to be dropped off T20I squad, Hardik Pandya to lead team India in T20Is.
India’s embarrassing exit from the T20 World Cup 2022 following a painful defeat against England in the second semi-final at Adelaide Oval, last evening has left multiple questions raising on the T20I squad. The players have been scrutinised for their collapse in the critical knockout matches, which has been India’s history for a long time.
Meanwhile, a development has come out soon after team India made exit from the tournament that the transition in the Indian T20I squad will begin really quickly now and many senior players will be eased out in the next couple of years, before the T20 World Cup 2024.
Although it’s disheartening to see your favourite stars go away from the particular format and cricket, the truth is that senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik and Mohammad Shami are likely to be dropped off the Indian T20I squad in the coming few months.
A senior BCCI official, who has his ear close to the development, said that the senior players will concentrate on the ODI and Test formats while there will be a process for a smooth transition in the T20I squad, with Hardik Pandya being appointed the leader.
“The BCCI never asks anyone to retire. It is an individual decision. But yes, with just a handful of T20Is scheduled in 2023, most of the seniors will concentrate on ODIs and Test matches in that cycle,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Notably, it can be said that Dinesh Karthik and R Ashwin have just featured in their final T20I assignment. But, the board will let Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli decide their fate in the shortest format.
“You don’t need to announce retirement if you don’t want to. You will not see most of the seniors playing T20 next year,” the source added.
During the post-match presentation after England defeated India by 10 wickets at Adelaide, a journalist raised a query about the future of senior players in the Indian team to which the Indian head coach, Rahul Dravid replied, “It’s too early to talk about it right now just after a semi-final game. These guys have been terrific performers for us. Like you said, we have a couple of years to reflect on it.”
Not to forget, we might see some retirement coming from the senior players in the next couple of months. With their fate in the Indian T20 side looking insignificant, retirement is inevitable.
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