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DUBAI : The pitch in Cape Town, where India beat South Africa inside five sessions of a test match last week, has incurred one demerit point after being rated "unsatisfactory", the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday.
Rohit Sharma was named Indian cricket team skipper for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan starting January 11. Rohit last played a T20I match back in November 2022 when he faced England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final. Since then, both Rohit and Virat Kohli have prioritised Test and ODI cricket due to the Cricket World Cup taking place in 2023. In the meantime, Hardik Pandya led the team in T20Is but former India wicketkeeper batter Saba Karim believes that the all-rounder's prolonged absence due to injury concerns may have played a part in Rohit making a return.
Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma made a long-awaited return to the Indian T20I cricket team as he was named in the series against Afghanistan. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were the two big names who made a comeback into the format. Both players did not play a single T20I after the 2022 T20 World Cup. However, with both being included, speculation is rife that they are very much in the scheme of things for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on Sunday made a high-profile comeback to India's T20 squad for the three homes against Afghanistan with the former also named captain for the series beginning in Mohali on January 11. Rohit and Kohli last appeared in a T20 for India in the World Cup semifinal against England in November 2022. Back then, the two veterans along with KL Rahul were seen to be playing archaic cricket in the powerplay and the team needed to move on from that approach with Hardik Pandya earmarked as the new T20 skipper.
The selectors have clearly gone for the status quo rather than addressing the elephant in the room by picking Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for their first T20 series in 14 months. Will it have a bearing on India's chances in another T20 World Cup? Only time can tell. Having endured a heartbreak in the previous two editions of the T20 World Cup, the two greats of the game can't be faulted for wanting a final shot at glory in the format. But the same can't be said about the selectors, who picked a fresh bunch of players to take the team forward since the crushing semifinal loss to England in November 2022. Now that Rohit and Kohli have been picked for the home series against Afghanistan beginning on January 11, it is a given that the famed duo will be a part of India's squad for the ICC showpiece in the US and Caribbean in June.
The Indian cricket spectrum jumped with joy as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma marked their return to the national team in the T20I format as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced squad for the Afghanistan series. Kohli and Rohit hadn't played a T20 international since the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2022 but are back in the reckoning, especially as the Afghanistan series remains Team India's last before next year's T20 World Cup.
England wicketkeeper batter Johnny Bairstow feels if India opt for turning pitches during the five-Test series later this month, "it will negate bit of their strength in their seam attack". England had lost the Test series 1-3 to India on spin-friendly tracks during their 2021 tour of the country. "India can produce different pitches: it doesn't have to turn. We've seen how potent their seam attack has been recently," Bairstow told Sky Sports.
Former captain Sourav Ganguly on Sunday backed stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to feature in India's squad for the T20I World Cup in June. The duo, who have not featured in any T20I for about 14 months, have made themselves available for the sport's shortest format, and it remains to be seen if they are picked for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, beginning January 11 in Mohali. "Of course Rohit should captain the team in the T20I World Cup. Virat Kohli also should be there. Virat Kohli is an outstanding player, nothing will happen (to return after 14 months)," Ganguly added.