Former India batsman Robin Uthappa has said senior players should have retired from the T20Is after the T20 World Cup in 2022. The former cricketer’s comments have come just a few days before the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will represent Team India in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Rohit and Kohli did not play a single T20I for Team India in 2023 and many believed that the selectors had finally moved on. With Rohit out, Hardik Pandya was leading the T20I team and did a fine job as captain. However, the selectors decided to recall the senior batters in January this year before including them in the squad for the World Cup as well.
Rohit and Kohli’s return to the T20I side after a gap of more than a year has continued to divide opinions and Robin Uthappa has now shared his views on the same. The T20 World Cup-winning former batsman stated that the senior players should have moved on from the T20Is after the last World Cup.
Uthappa also said that the youngsters should have been preferred after impressing in the IPL. He singled out Shubman Gill, saying that the batsman should have been a part of the India squad.
“I’m gonna catch a lot of flak for this, but I’ll take it. I think they should’ve moved on after the previous World Cup itself,” Robin Uthappa said while speaking on JioCinema.
“I think the youngsters should’ve played in this World Cup. The senior players have had their go, and these guys are showing true potential. The fact that they’ve been performing in IPL consistently … a lot of these guys who are performing now, the likes of Shubman Gill should be there,” Uthappa added.
India squad for the T20 World Cup:
Rohit Sharma will be leading Team India in the T20 World Cup while Pandya has been named as his deputy. While Gill has missed out, Yashasvi Jaiswal has been named as Rohit’s opening partner. The likes of Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, and Sanju Samson will be the middle-order options while Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are the allrounders.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan
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