BCCI could take a major decision on the future of senior Indian players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin based on their performance down under during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting this month, a report by the news agency PTI states. Reportedly, the BCCI is discussing a structured phase-out policy for the senior Indian players before the start of the next WTC cycle, and there is a high possibility that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy could be the last Test series for these senior players.
The PTI report states that an informal meeting will take place between the BCCI, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, coach Gautam Gambhir, and skipper Rohit Sharma regarding the future of the Indian team going forward. A BCCI source told the agency that the meeting would be held ahead of Team India's departure for Australia on November 10. While ‘stocks will be taken,’ the BCCI is reportedly in no mood to tinker with the already announced squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The source further states that things could soon go awry for Kohli, Rohit, Ashwin, and Jadeja if India does not qualify for the WTC final in England. Such a circumstance could lead to the exclusion of all four senior players from the team for the five-Test series in England soon after.
Virat and Rohit, the two stalwarts of Indian cricket, have struggled to get going in the longest format of the game for a few years now. From February 2021 till the last match, Rohit scored 1210 runs in the 35 innings at an average of 37.81. Meanwhile, in the same period, Kohli played 25 innings and scored 742 runs, with an average of 30.91.
As things stand, the Men in Blue will need to win at least 4 out of the 5 matches in Australia in order to qualify for the World Test Championship final. While they could still qualify despite winning lower matches, but that would then depend on the performance of other teams.
