BCCI Drop Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma For The Next ODI Series: The Board of Control for Cricket in India is strongly pondering over selecting a second-string team for the ODI series against Afghanistan, which is still under a cloud of getting cancelled if the board doesn’t find a feasible schedule.
In the past week, reports have emerged that the India-Afghanistan white-ball series is doubtful because of the jam-packed schedule of the Indian team. However, now, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is looking to find a way to make the series happen: they could sent a second-string team for this and keep the first-choice players fresh for more important assignments.
India are supposed to host Afghanistan for a 3-ODI series between the end of the World Test Championship final (June 7-12) and the start of the all-format tour to West Indies in the second week of July.
“It’s understood that the idea initially was to hold the three games between June 20 and 30 with the squad then leaving for the Caribbean around July 7,” Cricbuzz said. With the Asia Cup to be held straight after the West Indies tour, the players wouldn’t get proper rest.
This would force the Board of Control for Cricket in India to select a second-string unit for the Afghanistan ODIs.
Meaning that the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Mohammed Shami would be rested from the Afghanistan ODIs.
Hardik Pandya could once again be seen leading Team India when they take on Afghanistan in the 3-ODI series.
Coming off from a grueling 2-month IPL, multi-format players such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma “will need enough rest before starting the tough trip of the West Indies, where all three formats of the game will be played, as the WTC final has already demanded their complete concentration,” a report in InsideSport said.
Further, the BCCI could also make another big change in the series and instead of a 3-ODI series, they could convert it to a 3-T20I series, to take place between June 20 and 30. Hardik Pandya, who is not part of the squad for the WTC Final, and who has led Gujarat Titans to the final of the IPL 2023, is the deputy to Rohit Sharma in white-ball squads and will lead against Afghanistan.
The President of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), Mirwais Ashraf, will meet BCCI secretary Jay Shah on the sidelines of the IPL 2023 final on May 28 and discuss the plans further regarding the India-Afghanistan series and also the Asia Cup.
