Indian captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to the Indian T20I team and were picked for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. Kohli and Rohit had been out of the Indian T20I squad for the last 14 months and played their last match against England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022.

However, the return of the duo has added to the headache of the Indian selectors. It was speculated that the duo would not play in the 2024 T20 World Cup, however, the return of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma It has certainly cleared up all speculations.

The Indian selection committee had been preparing the main team for the T20 World Cup 2024 and Hardik Pandya would most likely lead the team if Rohit Sharma was not available for the tournament. However, Pandya was injured during the 2023 ODI World Cup and Suryakumar Yadav led India in the previous two T20I series.

Suryakumar Yadav led India to a 4-1 series win against Australia, while India drew the series against South Africa. Suryakumar was also another candidate to lead India in the absence of Rohit Sharma.

Former Indian cricketer and chief selector MSK Prasad, speaking to Star Sports, stated that the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is not a surprise for the Indian team. Prasad further said that Virat-Rohit did not play in the T20Is as they prepared for the 2023 ODI World Cup.

MSK Prasad sheds light on why Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were away from T20Is

MSD Prasad said: “The question arises why they didn’t play after the last T20 World Cup. The reason they didn’t play is that we were heading towards an ODI World Cup, so we wanted to focus predominantly on the ODIs. That’s why they offered other youngsters who were perhaps thinking about the T20 World Cup. So that’s a wonderful thing from both of them, and even the selectors and the team management have done well.”

“Because if we are heading towards the ODI World Cup, it is better to focus on the ODIs, and we also had the WTC. So they focused on Test cricket and ODI cricket. “Now that we are heading towards a T20, they should be back in action.”

In the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, India performed very well in the T20I format. Young players like Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi and Mukesh Kumar have stood up to their talent and shown a lot of promise.

However, with the return of senior players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah, some of the players may have to lose their place in the Indian T20I team. However, this also explains how rich in talent the Indian bench strength is and also the future of Indian cricket is certain.

India won their last T20 World Cup in 2007 and will aim to take the trophy home in 2024.