‘He was playing ODI cricket like it was the T20 format’ - Aakash Chopra reflects on Rohit Sharma’s return to shortest format

After concluding their multi-format series against South Africa, Team India will now shift its focus to the shortest format as it gears up to take Afghanistan on in a three-game T20I series. Both sides will face off in a T20I clash on January 11, 14, and 17.

The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) recently announced the squads for the series against Afghanistan, and much to the fans’ delight, veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were included. The duo last played a T20I game back in the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup, where the Men in Blue suffered a humiliating 10-wicket defeat. However, with the duo's much-awaited return, the cricket fraternity has got to talking about potential reasons for their absence from the format. In the same vein, the former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra took part in the same discussion and opined that Kohli and Rohit’s absence from T20I cricket came due to the selectors wanting to go in a different direction, but their form in the ODI World Cup led to their selection once more.

“It is not that they were unavailable everywhere; they must have been available at times, but the selectors said no, because right now, we are going to look in a different direction. After this, the ODI World Cup happens, where Rohit was in explosive form. He was playing ODI cricket like it was the T20 format. Virat Kohli became the player of the tournament," Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.

We said we would try to make 100 runs in 10 overs, but we didn’t play that cricket: Aakash Chopra

Furthermore, Aakash Chopra also talked about Team India’s performance and the reason for their elimination from the 2022 T20 World Cup. The renowned cricket commentator opined that the side’s defensive approach in the marquee competition led to their elimination. He also questioned the intent of the Indian batters as at one point the team were aiming to score heavily in the first 10 overs of the game.

“One of the reasons considered for the defeat of the World Cup 2022—the poor performance in the tournament—was that everyone else was playing very aggressively. Pakistan and everyone else played aggressively; we used to play defensively. 36 runs in six overs were our template for match after match. We said we would try to make 100 runs in 10 overs, but we didn’t play that cricket,” Chopra concluded.