Former India coach orders Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to stop hiding behind BCCI after New Zealand disaster

Former Indian national cricket team selector Sunil Joshi launched a fresh attack on Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and other Indian players after the disastrous test series loss against the New Zealand national cricket team at home .

Sunil Joshi criticized Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for lack of accountability and ordered them to stop hiding behind the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Indian batsmen were horrible in New Zealand Test series

Team India’s batsmen failed miserably in the three-match Test series against the New Zealand national cricket team at home, struggling with both pace and spin bowling.

They started the series in Bengaluru with a humiliating 46 all out as the Kiwi pacers completely destroyed the batting unit. Then, in the last two matches in Pune and Mumbai, spinners Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel broke Rohit Sharma & Co’s back.

Senior cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma did not take any responsibility and their failure put the rest of the batsmen under more pressure. In six innings, Rohit Sharma scored 91 runs at an average of 15.16 and a best of 52, while Virat Kohli scored 93 runs at an average of 15.50 and a best of 70.

The duo were heavily criticized for skipping the Duleep Trophy ahead of the home Test season, with many experts stating that participation in domestic cricket would have prepared the batsmen to handle the challenge of spin quite well.

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“Let’s not put everything in the BCCI” – Sunil

In an interaction with TOI, Sunil Joshi urged everyone not to blame the BCCI for the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in domestic matches and said it was the responsibility of the duo to play the Duleep Trophy before the Test season.

“Let’s not put everything on the BCCI. It is also individual responsibility. That is what I want to emphasize more. You know you are going to play three Test matches, they will be with turners or with slow wickets.

“So, from the white-ball format, (it is necessary) to go back to the Ranji Trophy and play (to prepare the match for the red-ball international season). For everything, the blame cannot be placed on the BCCI. The responsibility of the players is also there. The players must take the initiative and must say, ‘Boss, I will go to play the Ranji Trophy, I will go to play the Duleep Trophy,’ he said.

“If XYZ or our best players don’t get runs…” – Sunil Joshi’s criticism of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Sunil Joshi further said that the only way for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to improve their game against spin is to play domestic cricket again. The former India coach bluntly said that “nobody is bigger than the game” and asked the players to prioritize the Ranji Trophy.

“If XYZ or our best players don’t get runs against spin bowling, what is the way to (improve)? They need to come back and play spin bowling.

“So why can’t they come back and play domestic cricket? All these players played Ranji Trophy and then only played Test cricket… It’s not a hard and fast rule; but I think given the circumstances and given the” In the WTC scenarios, our best players, the top six, should have played one or two (domestic) games before the Test series…No one is bigger than the game. Everyone faces ups and downs in their career,” he added.