West Indies’ legendary World Cup winner Clive Lloyd spoke in detail about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s return to T20Is ahead of the World Cup.
West Indies cricket legend Clive Lloyd voiced his support on Friday for including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in India’s T20 World Cup squad. According to Lloyd, the invaluable experience offered by the veteran duo is crucial, and it would be unwise to fill the team solely with youngsters. The selectors have recently picked Rohit and Kohli for the ongoing T20I series against Afghanistan, signalling their continued relevance in the shortest format.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are back in India’s T20I plans(PTI)
Kohli was absent from the opening match in Mohali due to personal reasons. Rohit, meanwhile, faced an unfortunate run out dismissal on only the second ball of his innings, recording a duck.
The ongoing debate revolves around whether the experienced pair should retain their spots or make way for younger talents, especially in light of India’s recent ICC trophy drought, with the latest setback being in the ODI World Cup final against Australia in November last year.
“You want to pick your best team, you can’t just fill the team with youthful players. You need experience,” the two-time World Cup-winning captain said in a media interaction in Kolkata, as quoted by PTI.
“Kohli is still one of the best players around. Rohit is quite good as captain. So you pick your best team. You will have some young players too, because you have so many cricketers here, and they are pushing the older players… and that’s how it should be. But I’m sure that you will have a very formidable side.”
Virat Kohli had been the star performer in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup in 2022, where he ended as the highest run-getter (296 runs in 6 matches). His innings against Pakistan (82* off 51 balls) was widely regarded as one of the best T20I knocks in history. Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, has struggled in the shortest format over the past few years. The Indian captain had only 116 runs throughout the previous T20 World Cup and failed to make a mark in the 2023 Indian Premier League, scoring 332 runs in 16 matches.
