In the midst of speculation that seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya will take over as T20I captain ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, India skipper Rohit Sharma said that he had no plans to stop playing the T20I format.
After suffering a left thumb injury in the second One-Day International against Bangladesh on December 7, Rohit is expected to return to competitive cricket in the first ODI against Sri Lanka on Tuesday in Guwahati.
He was unable to play in the third ODI, the Tests against Bangladesh, the home T20I series against Sri Lanka, and the third ODI. Pandya led India to a 2-1 series victory earlier this month while he was away.
"First of all, playing back-to-back games is not permitted. You must provide ample breaks for them (all format players). Certainly, I also fit that description. Three T20Is versus New Zealand are scheduled (later in January). After the IPL, we'll see what happens. I have not made the decision to abandon the format, "In the news conference prior to the game, he remarked.
Jasprit Bumrah's tardy withdrawal, according to Rohit, was a "really regrettable occurrence." The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Bumrah won't play in the series on the eve of the first One-Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka, citing the need for more time to develop bowling resilience.
The right-arm fast bowler, who has been sidelined with a back ailment since September 2022, will now have to wait even longer to play competitive cricket after the decision was made as a precaution. No substitute has been chosen in Bumrah's absence.
"The poor man has been slaving away at the NCA nonstop. This incidence occurred in the past two days, which caused him to experience a slight stiffness in his back, just as he was beginning to feel physically fit and bowl. We must exercise extreme caution if Bumrah says anything, even though it's nothing serious and is still only stiffness. We took that action."
"It was very important for us to make that decision then to just pull him out because when we named him (in the squad), he was in the process of getting his workload done. He was bowling in the nets and felt a little bit of stiffness in the back. So, we had to pull him out. We need to be very careful with him as he had a major injury before the World Cup and just need to be careful with him," he added.
Ishan Kishan, the left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman who made a sensational career-best 210 while opening the batting in his absence against Bangladesh at Chattogram in December 2022, will have to sit out of the starting eleven as a result of Rohit's confirmation that right-handed batter Shubman Gill will open the batting alongside him at Guwahati on Tuesday.
"Gill and Kishan have both performed admirably as openers. But taking into account how both have fared, I believe it is only reasonable that we give Gill an opportunity to have a fair run considering that in the most recent (few) games Gill also received a lot of runs."
"I am not going to take anything from Ishan. He has been wonderful for us. He got a double hundred and I know what it takes to get a double hundred, it is a great achievement. But just to be honest and be fair to the guys who have done really well before that we need to give those guys enough chances as well."
"It is unfortunate that we won't be able to play Ishan but looking at how things have panned out for us in the last 8-9 months, looking at how the ODIs have gone through for us, it is fair to give Gill that run and he has done extremely well in that position. We will definitely try out and keep Ishan in the mix and see how things pan out for us as we play a lot of games ahead," he concluded.