‘BCCI never asks anyone to retire’: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli likely to be phased out from India’s T20I side

Team India’s hope for a second World T20 trophy came to an end on Thursday as Rohit Sharma and Co. were handed a 10-wicket thrashing by England in the semifinal at Adelaide.

Following the defeat, India head coach Rahul Dravid was asked about the future of senior players such as Rohit, and Virat Kohli, in the T20 setup. The coach at the post-match press conference, which was aired live on Star Sports, said it’s too early to talk about transition but a report in PTI cited that skipper Rohit, Kohli, and R Ashwin will gradually be eased out of the shorter format in the upcoming months.

Quoting BCCI sources close to the development, the report further mentioned that a brand new team will be fielded for the next edition, which will be played in 2024. It also stated that Hardik Pandya is projected as the long-term captaincy choice.

“The BCCI never asks anyone to retire. It is an individual decision. But yes, with just a handful of T20Is scheduled in 2023, most of the seniors will concentrate on ODIs and Test matches in that cycle,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

“You don’t need to announce retirement if you don’t want to. You will not see most of the seniors playing T20 next year,” the source added.

The focus will now shift to the 50-over format in the lead up to the ICC Cricket World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in India next year. As per the FTP calendar, India will engage in 25 ODIs ahead of the World Cup and play 12 T20Is, with three of them against New Zealand, which starts shortly after the ongoing T20 World Cup.