Rohit Sharma's exclusion from Indian Test team on 2019 WI tour shocks Dilip Vengsarkar

Former Indian cricket captain Dilip Vengsarkar was recently involved in a live chat with Sportskeeda. Vengsarkar, who also served as India's chief selector in mid to late 2000s, spoke about how he felt when Rohit Sharma was excluded from Test XI during India’s 2019 tour of West Indies, i.e. just one month after conclusion of 2019 World Cup. In quadrennial event, Rohit Sharma scored 648 runs to top run-scoring charts and he struck five centuries in process.

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Dilip Vengsarkar asks - “How can you drop Rohit Sharma?”

Dilip Vengsarkar said that he was “shocked” to see Rohit Sharma getting dropped from playing XI for 2-match Test series in West Indies. former cricketer spoke about form of opening batsman throughout World Cup and emphasised on his record-breaking five centuries in event. Vengsarkar cited his match-winning kck of 140 against Pakistan and indirectly slammed selection team led by MSK Prasad back n for t considering Rohit Sharma despite his gigantic efforts and superlative form prior to tour.

Rohit Sharma, however, did play three-match home Test series against South Africa in October 2019 where he ended up scoring 529 runs across four innings. In series, he was appointed to open innings for India for first time in Test cricket.

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Dilip Vengsarkar opens up on Virat Kohli’s debut

In live chat, Vengsarkar also spoke about what prompted him to induct Virat Kohli in Indian team when he was chief selector back in 2008. He stated that he was highly impressed by n 18-year old’s performance in four-nation Emerging Players Tournament in Australia in 2008 where present Indian captain scored 206 runs in six innings. Dilip Vengsarkar referred to Virat Kohli’s unbeaten kck of 120 against New Zealand Emerging Players during India’s successful run-chase.

cricketer-turned-selector described Virat Kohli’s match-winning kck by saying he appreciated how batsman stayed till end to ensure an Indian win. Dilip Vengsarkar also said that selection committee had already decided to pick “fringe” players from tournament, which is why y went with Virat Kohli.

Interestingly, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made ir respective international debuts when Dilip Vengsarkar was Chairman of Selectors. While Kohli debuted in 2008, Sharma made his first appearance for Team India a year earlier. Both cricketers played under leadership of MS Dhoni during beginning phase of ir careers.

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