Kohli baffled by Rohit’s absence in Australia, questions WTC rule change

Virat Kohli (left) with Rohit Sharma

SYDNEY (Reuters):  India captain Virat Kohli said he was kept in the dark about deputy Rohit Sharma’s hamstring injury and believes the opener should have travelled to Australia to boost his chances of

playing the test series against Tim Paine’s men.

Rohit was initially ruled out of the entire Australia tour with the injury, which also kept him out of four Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in the United Arab Emirates. However, the 33-year-old, returned to lead Mumbai Indians to a record fifth IPL title, prompting questions about the extent of his injury.

The Indian board (BCCI) subsequently added him to the test squad, while monitoring his recovery at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, having deemed him still unfit to travel with the rest of the team to Australia. “It’s been very confusing and there’s been a lot of uncertainty around the situation. After that (injury), he played in the IPL, so we all thought that he was going to be on that flight to Australia, which he wasn’t.

“So from the time that the selection meeting happened, there’s been no information, there’s been a lack of clarity, and we’ve been playing the waiting game on this issue for a while now, which is not ideal at all,” Kohli said, ahead of Friday’s one-day series opener in Sydney.

Reuters has contacted the BCCI for comment. Like Rohit, Ishant Sharma’s participation in the test series is also uncertain, as the quick bowler continues his recovery from a rib-cage injury in Bengaluru. 

“Both should have been with the team in Australia,” Kohli said.

The India captain was also unhappy with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to change rules to determine the finalists for next year’s World Test Championship (WTC).

Considering the matches that could not be played because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICC has decided to rank teams based on the percentage of points won, instead of accumulated points from completed matches.

“It’s definitely surprising. It’s happened out of nowhere, and I think further questions about this should be asked from the ICC and understand why this has been done,” said Kohli, whose team led the points table, but have now slipped to second place behind Australia, who have a higher percentage of points.