Team India: Transition Phase Begins
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2022-02-20 05:03:33
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
The selectors have appointed Rohit Sharma as the captain of Team India in all formats with his elevation as Test captain of Team India in the two-test series against Sri Lanka. They have also indicated their preference to groom future captains under him. K L Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah are the chosen ones. With K L Rahul ruled out of the series due to injury, Jasprit Bumrah has been appointed vice-captain.
The selectors also announced that the team is entering the transition phase and for that, they dropped seniors Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkye Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha. After their poor form of late, it was expected that Pujara and Rahane will not get a look-in. The awesome bench strength of the Indian team means that let alone the reputation and past performance, a player's place is not secure if he fails repeatedly as others are breathing down the neck. Ishant Sharma was just being a fellow traveler as he was not getting opportunities. As the new breed of pace bowlers in the Indian camp are performing well and consistently, Sharma's days seem to be over. With the selectors identifying Pant as a future captain, Saha's age (37 plus) was a factor and they chose to go with the younger K S Bharat as the reserve wicketkeeper.
While the rest selected themselves, the selectors rewarded UP left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar for his consistent performance in domestic cricket. But Sarfaraz Khan and Ruturaj Gaikwad have also been performing exceptionally well in the domestic circuit, their exclusion drew a sharp response from former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar who said some players in the team do not merit a place and Khan and Gaikawad (he is in the T20 team) should have been included in order not to damage their morale. But the fact is that with a problem of plenty, the selectors have a tough task at hand. Both Khan and Gaikwad are young and exceptionally talented. Obviously the selectors have them on the radar and they will get their chances when any of the selected players do not perform as expected.
