Former Indian cricketer Pragyan Ojha feels that BCCI management and selectors might take two or three more tournaments to assess the squad thoroughly ahead of the T20 World Cup in 2024.
India and South Africa are gearing up to lock horns in the T20I series which gets underway on Sunday. The visitors have gone to South Africa with more or less a similar team that played against Australia post ODI World Cup.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will join the team during the Test series which gets underway on December 26 in Centurion. However, Ojha feels it will to quick to say anything about the future of Kohli and Rohit in India’s limited-overs squad.
In an exclusive interview with IANS, Ojha highlighted how management and selectors are giving chances to youngsters to see how new players can adjust to different roles in a given situation.
“It is too quick to say that Rohit and Virat aren’t a part of the white-ball setup. The think and management know about the potential of Rohit and Virat. Right now new players are being given a chance, they are being understood how will they react in a given situation,” Ojha asserted.
“Like they did ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup by trying out new players and when the showpiece event came, everyone had clarity about the role. Hence I feel that is why role redefining is going on so it will be very quick to say that Virat and Rohit will not be a part of the squad in white-ball cricket,” he added.
When asked about the possibility of Kohli opening for India in the T20 World Cup, Ojha mentioned that such decisions would be made by the administration. He stressed that the next two or three tournaments would provide insights into the think tank’s strategies for Team India.
“That management and selectors will decide, in the coming two or three series we will get to know what Team India’s think tank is thinking,” said Ojha on the sidelines of Legends League Cricket (LLC) 2023 where is playing for Urbanrisers Hyderabad.
Urbanrisers Hyderabad and Manipal Tigers will lock horns in the finals of Legends League Cricket (LLC) 2023 on Saturday here at Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat. Speaking about the finals and preparations that go into them, Ojha pointed out how being mentally and physically fit is the biggest challenge for cricketers who have taken retirement.
“Challenges are different in IPL and International cricket. Here (in LLC) the biggest challenge is how you keep yourself fit mentally and physically because you are not playing regular cricket. Players are at different levels of their career and to come back and play cricket is a big thing,” he signed off.
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