Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Deep Dasgupta has urged Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to hit the ground running in all the bilateral series they play before the ODI World Cup. There have been constant pressure on the veteran duo’s places in the team despite consistent performances.
It was recently reported that Rohit would play his last ODI at Lord’s against England but the veteran answered his critics in style, scoring a majestic knock of 138 runs off 110 balls.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli returned with scores of 5, 65, 74 against England in three games.
Dasgupta said the team management should have the right environment to get the best out of their players.
Deep Dasgupta said on his YouTube Channel, “That has to be a conversation with everyone, not just them (Kohli and Rohit), that they have to start the series well and hit the ground running. That is a challenge. You can’t take one or two games to get into the groove. But that’s where the support staff comes in and has conversations with the players by creating an environment to get the best out of everyone.”
The former Bengal cricketer said Kohli and Rohit should be backed to the hilt and there should not be any conversations regarding their places in the team.
“There is no conversation needed with them about their places in the team. Four years back, it wasn’t like they had to be reminded before every series that they would be in the team. They knew they would be in the team on the back of their performances. So how does that change now? It does not and should not change,” said Dasgupta (via the aforementioned source).
“This discussion about their future is getting exaggerated because they play only one format. When you play multiple formats, if you fail in one but score in the other, the failure is forgotten. So that’s a challenge for these two that can’t be denied. People will remember what they last did in this format because they play only one format. But the conversation with them should be the same as it was three years ago.”
Rohit and Kohli will be next seen in action in the ODI series against the West Indies.
