India’s ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma is reportedly unlikely to continue playing T20 Internationals, as sources from the BCCI have revealed that he had discussed his future in the shortest format before the start of the 50-over World Cup. Rohit hasn’t played a single game in T20Is since India’s semi-final exit from the T20 World Cup in November 2022, with Hardik Pandya mostly leading the Indian team in T20Is since then. The 36-year-old has played 148 T20Is, scoring 3853 runs at a strike-rate of nearly 140 with four hundreds.
According to an anonymous senior BCCI source, Rohit himself volunteered to stay away from T20Is for the past year with the focus being on the ODI World Cup, and that it was completely his decision. After Rohit, India has four openers — Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, and Ruturaj Gaikwad — all of whom are proven IPL performers. If the younger crop does not perform, the selectors or the BCCI brass may ask Rohit to reconsider his current stand.
With seven Tests to be played between December 2023 to March 2024, Rohit’s focus will be primarily on red-ball cricket. He still has a realistic chance of leading India to another World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2025, and his form in the traditional format has been excellent since he started opening for India in 2019.
India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead the attack in a two-Test series in South Africa with Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, but with five Tests scheduled against England early next year, the pace trio will be rotated during the series. Bumrah, after his injury-forced break from competitive cricket, is ready for his comeback, according to insiders.
The BCCI source also mentioned that Bumrah is fighting fit and is ready to play Test matches, emphasizing the need to use him and Shami based on the priority format at a given time. Finally, the BCCI source added that Bumrah will certainly play in the T20 World Cup if all goes well.