Former selector of Indian National Cricket Team Sunil Joshi started a new attack on him Rohit SharmaVirat Kohli and other Indian players after the disastrous Test series lost to the New Zealand National Cricket Team at home.
Sunil Joshi slammed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for being irresponsible and told them to stop hiding behind the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The Indian batters were terrible in the New Zealand Test series
Team India suffered a dismal defeat in the three-match Test series at home against the New Zealand National Cricket Team, where they struggled against both pace and spin bowling.
They started the series in Bengaluru with a humiliating 46 as the Kiwi pacers completely destroyed the batting unit. Then, the spinners in the last two matches in Pune and Mumbai Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel broke the back of Rohit Sharma & Co.
The senior cricketers, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, were not held accountable and their failure put more pressure on the rest of the batsmen. In six overs, Rohit Sharma scored 91 runs at an average of 15.16 and a best of 52 while Virat Kohli scored 93 runs at an average of 15.50 and a best of 70.
The duo were heavily criticized for skipping the Duleep Trophy ahead of the home Test season, with many pundits arguing that involvement in domestic cricket would prepare the batsmen well to deal with the spin problem.
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“Let’s not put everything on BTSO” – Sunil
In an interaction with TOI, Sunil Joshi urged everyone not to blame BCCI for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli missing domestic matches and said it was the duo’s responsibility to play the Duleep Trophy before the Test season.
“Let’s not put everything on the BCCI. It’s also an individual responsibility. I want to emphasize that more. You know you’re going to have three Test matches, it’s either going to be spinners or slow wickets.
“So from the white-ball format, (you have to) come back to the Ranji Trophy and play (to be match-ready for the red-ball international season). You can’t put the blame on BCCI for everything. The players’ responsibility is there and the players have to take initiative and be ‘Boss. , I will go and play Ranji Trophy, I will go and play Duleep Trophy,” he said.
“If XYZ or our top players don’t get runs…” – Sunil Joshi’s dig at Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
Sunil Joshi further said that the only way for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to improve their game against spin is to return to the grind in domestic cricket. The former India selector bluntly said that “nobody is bigger than the game” and asked the players to prioritize the Ranji Trophy.
“If XYZ or our best players are not running against spin bowling, what is the way (to improve)? They have to go back and play spin.
“So why can’t they come back and play domestic cricket? All these players have played Ranji Trophy and then gone on to play only Test cricket… It’s not a hard and fast rule; but I think given the circumstances and the scenarios of the WTC, the best six of our players should have played one or two (domestic) games before the Test series… Everyone has ups and downs in their career,” he added.
