India captain Rohit Sharma has denied attending any meeting with BCCI chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar and head coach Rahul Dravid to decide the roadmap for T20 World Cup. A couple of days ago, a leading Indian news daily reported that Rohit, Dravid and Agarkar caught up in Mumbai for a two-hour-long meeting, where two primary topics were discussed – Hardik Pandya needs to bowl more regularly in order to guarantee a place in India’s T20 World Cup team and whether Virat Kohli needs to open with captain Rohit in the Playing XI.
Rohit, however, dismissed these reports as ‘fake’ news, revealing that he hasn’t met anyone and cautioned the public against believing anything that is not coming directly from him, Agarkar, Dravid or the BCCI.
“I haven’t met anyone. Ajit Agarkar is somewhere in Dubai playing golf and Rahul Dravid is actually watching his kids play in Bengaluru,” Rohit told Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist on the Club Prairie Fire podcast.
“He [Dravid] was in Mumbai but he got him [the son] to play on a red-soil wicket at CCI. That’s about it. We haven’t met, to be honest. I think in today’s day and age, unless you hear it from either myself or Rahul himself or Ajit himself or someone from BCCI coming and talking in front of the camera, everything is fake.”
What about Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya?
With the BCCI expected to reveal India’s T20 World Cup squad sometime during the first week of May, every IPL game becomes all the more crucial given there are simply too many contenders for limited positions. Until a month ago, there were speculations regarding Kohli’s place in the 15 as well, with a report claiming that he may just fall behind in the pecking order with youngsters Rinku Singh and Yashasvi Jaiswal taking precedence.
Kohli himself indirectly reacted to it, as after playing a match-winning knock against Punjab Kings in the IPL, he cheekily told the broadcaster “I think I still have it”. However, with time, Kohli’s position seems clear and he is set to feature for India in the West Indies and USA.
As for Hardik, the all-rounder has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. Not only has he not been accepted by the fans, but the fact that he refrained from bowling in a couple of games promises to make his inclusion trickier. Hardik’s 2023 ODI World Cup journey was cut short when he hurt his ankle during the Bangladesh game and was subsequently ruled out of the tournament. However, given how Hardik had led India in T20Is while Rohit and Kohli took a break from the format to focus on ODIs, Pandya should be a sure-shot starter in India’s Playing XI.
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