"There’s a longish gap.." Sunil Gavaskar disagrees with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's exclusion from Duleep Trophy ahead of Bangladesh test series

Sunil Gavaskar said that Rohit and Kohli will play Bangladesh test series without much match practice.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar raised concern over veteran Indian cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s absence from the upcoming Duleep Trophy.

On August 14, 2024, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squads of the four teams for the first round of Duleep Trophy 2024-25.

Many senior Indian cricketers will feature in the first round of the Duleep Trophy, which will start on September 5. However, Rohit, Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Jasprit Bumrah were excluded.

Recently, BCCI secretary Jay Shah revealed the reason behind the exclusion of Rohit and Kohli from the Duleep Trophy. Shah said that the Indian selectors didn’t want to risk injuries to Rohit and Kohli ahead of the long test season of the Indian cricket team.

Rohit and Kohli will go into the Bangladesh test series without match practice: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar wrote about Rohit and Kohli’s absence from the Duleep Trophy in his latest column for mid-day. Gavaskar pointed out that the Rohit-Kohli duo will play the two-match Bangladesh test series without much match practice.

“The selectors have not picked the skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the Duleep Trophy so they will most likely go into the Bangladesh Test series without much match practice,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for the mid-day.

“While it’s understandable that somebody like Jasprit Bumrah with his delicate back needs to be handled with care, the batters could have done with some batting time out in the middle. Once a player hits the mid-thirties in any sport, then regular competition will help him maintain the high standards he has set. When there’s a longish gap then the muscle memory weakens somewhat and to get back to the high standards from earlier is not easy,” Gavaskar added.

Kohli last played test cricket against South Africa in January. The veteran batter missed the home test series against England due to the birth of his son in London. Meanwhile, Indian opener Rohit Sharma was last seen playing red-ball cricket against England earlier this year.

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