'Nobody Mentioned Why Rohit-Virat...': Aakash Chopra Highlights 'Mystery' Amidst T20 World Cup Speculations

It’s been just over a year since India’s semi-final exit from the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

India lost to England in the semi-final and incidentally, it was the last time that either Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli featured in a T20I. Since then, the two stalwarts have logged regular appearances in Tests and ODIs though but have been absent in the third.

There hasn’t been any official reason why this has been the case although media reports last year claimed the team management has seemingly moved on from the two seniors and are now focusing on grooming the younger players with 2024 T20 World Cup in mind.

Another explanation could be the fact that the ageing Rohit and Kohli were kept fresh for the longer formats considering their were two world titles to play for in 2023 – World Test Championship and ODI World Cup.

Both Kohli and Rohit had a memorable world cup, finishing as the top-two run-getters of the competition as India finished runners-up.

Hardik Pandya has been leading the T20I side since the conclusion of the world cup last year but with him recovering from an ankle injury, it’s anybody’s guess who could lead the team during the South Africa tour where India will be playing three T20Is.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has raised a valid query on why there’s been no official word on the absence of Rohit and Kohli from T20Is.

“I don’t think Rohit has ever expressed his desire not to lead India in any format. Happy to be corrected…if I have missed anything So, why does he need to be convinced for something that he’s never said NO to??” Chopra posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“In fact, since the last T20 World Cup…nobody has mentioned why Rohit-Virat weren’t a part of any T20i that India played. That’s a mystery…nobody has ever tried to unravel,” he added.

India haven’t won the T20 World Cup since winning it in 2007 under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.