End of the road for Rohit-Virat in T20Is? Rahul Dravid hints at the fate of senior players

Star Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya led the Men In Blue to another T20I series victory after defeating Sri Lanka by 91 runs in the third T20I on Saturday. The 91-run victory at Rajkot handed India a 2-1 series win against the Lankans. This was the third T20I series win for the Indian team under Hardik’s captaincy.

Meanwhile, India’s all-format captain Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli were among several senior players who didn’t feature in the T20I squad. While the new-look Indian squad left no stone unturned and dominated the Lankan team, several media reports suggest that this is the end of the road for senior players like Rohit and Virat in the T20 format of the game. Speaking to reporters after India lost the 2nd T20I on January 5, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid also shed light on the fate of the senior players. 

“For us from the last semifinal that we played against England, only 3-4 boys are playing in the XI against Sri Lanka. We are slightly in a different stage of looking at the next cycle of T20,” Dravid reportedly said. It is pertinent to mention that several senior Indian players are yet to play a T20I match for the team, ever since India exited the T20 World Cup 2022. India’s campaign at the T20 World Cup concluded with a humiliating 10-wicket loss in the semifinal against England.

"A lot of focus is on the ODI World Cup and World Test Championship"

Meanwhile, adding on to his thoughts, Dravid said, “So ours is a slightly younger team and for us to play against the quality of Sri Lanka is a fantastic experience. The good thing is that a lot of focus is on the ODI World Cup and World Test Championship. So the T20s give us the opportunity to try out these guys”. It is being also reported that Rohit and Virat are set to be left out of India’s upcoming T20I series against New Zealand.

Interestingly, Hardik Pandya was the most experienced player in the Indian squad for the 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. It was the 83rd T20 international appearance for the 29-year-old in his career. On the other hand, the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka T20I series had an average age of 27.