Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir believes that if Indian selectors want to look beyond Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul for the T20Is, so be it. Notably, Virat Kohli had a memorable 2022 as the dynamic batter performed extremely well for the side in tournaments like Asia Cup and T20 World Cup.
The 34-year-old finished the ICC tournament as the leading run-scorer. In Asia Cup, Kohli was second to Md. Rizwan in terms of most runs. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul had a forgettable year as the duo were hot and cold this season and received a lot of criticism from all quarters.
While speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Gambhir said that selectors must ensure proper communication during the transition period and must not create hype around it. In response to the possibility of Rohit, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul playing the next T20 World Cup, Gambhir said it looks tough to him. “People like Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan should be in the mix. Hardik Pandya is there, I’d like to try to get guys like Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson into the mix. They can play fearless cricket,” Gambhir said.
The cricketer further stated that Indian players have talked too much about certain templates and aggressive cricket, but when the right time came to do that, all that templates went out of the window.
“There should be clarity. There should be good communication between the selectors and these players. If the selectors have decided to look beyond these guys, so be it. I think a lot of countries have done that. We make too much of a hue and cry when the selectors and management look beyond certain individuals,” Gambhir said.
The world-cup-winning batter stressed the fact that priority should be given to the plan for the next T20 World Cup, and not to the individuals.
