Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma unlikely to face Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan treatment

The poor form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli has been a huge topic of debate in recent times, especially after the BGT series. Both these Indian stalwarts have not had a great time in red-ball cricket which has led to retirement rumours spreading among the fans. Still, experts have suggested that the two legends return to playing domestic cricket after their terrible performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The 2023 season saw Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan who were among the upcoming stars of Indian cricket being dropped from their central contracts since they could not follow the BCCI rule of prioritising domestic cricket when they were not on national duty.

With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma not being part of the five-match T20I series and the second half of the Ranji Trophy set to start, we may see the two play in the domestic tournament according to a recent report by the Hindustan Times.

“With Kohli though, there is a strong view within the board that if he is keen to play on, he should bat with pomp like before, and for that returning to the basics may be necessary, If the players do not play Ranji Trophy without valid medical or fitness reasons, it would have a bearing on their future India selection." read the report.

Rohit and Kohli escaped diktat in 2024

Though players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan who were just about established in international cricket faced a huge problem due to the rule by the BCCI it might not be the same for Virat and Rohit have already escaped this rule. After the T20 World Cup, the two were not active in the rest of the series but still did not feature in the Duleep Trophy which played a role in picking the squad for the Test series against Bangladesh which was a diktat from the BCCI.

There was even a statement from a BCCI official suggesting that the players will have to prioritise domestic cricket no matter how experienced they are in international cricket mentioning that there is no substitute for spending time at the crease to regain confidence.

“There’s no substitute to spending time at the crease to regain confidence. It is for the player, no matter how experienced, to realise it,” a BCCI official said as quoted by Hindustan Times.