It seems that former Indian pacer, Venkatesh Prasad was not really happy with Team India’s selection and accused Rohit Sharma of being biased. Prasad was particularly not happy about Ishan Kishan’s exclusion from the national side despite the southpaw battering a full-fledged double-ton.
Ahead of the game, it was announced that Rohit and Gill will be opening the innings and both the openers were absolutely phenomenal as India kept on hacking away at the Lankans with Rohit Sharma returning to form and Shubman Gill showcasing his class.
Rohit’s presser before the contest said, “Both openers have done really well. But looking at how both openers have gone through, it’s fair that we give Gill a chance to have a good run.” To be honest, Shubman Gill was one of the most prolific openers in 2022 where he hammered 687 runs from 13 innings.
Rohit also said, “Gill has got a lot of runs in the last few games, so has Ishan. I am not going to take anything away from him (Ishan). He’s been wonderful for us, got a double hundred. And, I know what it takes to get a double hundred, it is a great achievement.”
He further added, “It’s unfortunate that we won’t be able to play Ishan. But looking at how things have panned out for us in the last eight-nine months and how the ODIs have gone through for us, it’s fair to give Gill that run and he’s done extremely well in that position.”
However, Rohit also didn’t rule out Ishan Kishan completely, as he said, “Yes, Ishan is certainly going to miss out but it is very unfortunate. But that does not rule out anything. We are going to try and keep everyone in the mix and see how it pans out for us as we play a lot of games ahead.”
Prasad however added, “Think fair would have been to give chance to a man who scored a double hundred in India’s last ODI, and in a series where India lost two games and the series. Have all the time in the world for Gill, but no way you drop a player for scoring a double ton. And if one is convinced to play Gill, then can have him bat at 3 and let Ishan keep wickets instead of KL Rahul.”
He further added, “There is a reason we have underperformed in Limited overs cricket. Constant chopping changing and a guy who does brilliantly and is an X factor is dropped and mediocrity retained.”
Prasad concluded by saying, “In Eng, Pant scored a hundred in the final ODI and helped India win the series. However, based on T20 form was dropped from ODI team. KL Rahul on the other hand barring a couple of innings has failed consistently but retains his place. Performance is not the foremost parameter. Sad.”
