The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced the squad for the upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand and for the first two Test matches against Australia. The selectors picked a 16-member squad for both series, but there were some notable absentees. KL Rahul was not picked for either squad and Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were not included in the T20I squad.
The BCCI provided an explanation for Rahul’s absence, citing “family commitments” as the reason. However, there was no mention of Kohli and Rohit’s absence in the statement. The BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, has also not commented on their absence.
Earlier last month, a PTI report suggested that India would only name specialists for T20Is, which could explain Kohli’s absence. He was not included in the T20I squad for the Sri Lanka series, but returned for the ODIs. Rohit, on the other hand, missed the series due to injury.
Rohit had previously commented on the need for all-format players to have enough break time. He said, “Firstly, it is not possible to play back-to-back matches. You need to give them (all format players) enough break. I definitely fall in that as well. We have three T20Is against New Zealand. We will see what happens after IPL. I have not decided to give up the format.”
India has two more T20I series scheduled for this year, both away contests against West Indies in July-August and Australia after the ODI World Cup. So the reason of their absence could be a rotation policy to keep the players fresh and injury free.
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