New Delhi: India's ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma is unlikely to play T20 Internationals anymore and had discussed his future in the shortest format before the start of the 50-over World Cup, according to sources in the BCCI.
Rohit hasn't played a single game in the shortest format since India's T20 World Cup semifinal exit last November. Hardik Pandya has mostly led the Indian team in T20Is since then.
The 36-year-old India skipper has played 148 T20Is scoring 3,853 runs at a strike-rate of nearly 140 with four hundreds.
"It is not a new development. Rohit hasn't played any T20Is in past one year as the focus was on ODI World Cup. He had extensive discussions with chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar in this regard. He has himself volunteered to stay away from T20Is. It has completely been Rohit's call," a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
After Rohit, India have four openers in the T20 format -- Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad -- and all of them are proven IPL performers.
If the younger crop does not perform, the selectors or the BCCI brass might just ask Rohit to reconsider his current stand.
It is understandable that at this stage of his career, Rohit would like to manage his workload and ensure that he remains mostly injury free for the remainder of his career.
It will be impossible to play three formats and IPL each year and with seven Test to be played between December, 2023, to March, 2024, the Indian skipper's focus will be mostly on red-ball cricket.
