'No one comes back to form while resting' - Irfan Pathan takes indirect dig at BCCI for resting senior players

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday (July 6) announced a 16-man squad for the forthcoming three-match ODI series against hosts West Indies. Reacting to the squad, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan shared a cryptic comment for the management as many of India’s senior pros were rested, including India’s all-formats skipper Rohit Sharma.

Along with Rohit Sharma, other senior squad members who were rested are Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Rishabh Pant. Hence, in Rohit’s absence, Shikhar Dhawan was named India’s captain as he will be accompanied by Ravindra Jadeja as his deputy. Since the start of 2022, Dhawan will be the seventh player to take on the captaincy role.

Rohit and Kohli have not been in good touch recently. The former’s form in the IPL was poor, and the skipper has not returned to international cricket ever since. He was rested during the South Africa home series and was ruled out of the recently concluded rescheduled Test match against England. On the other hand, Kohli has been going through a rough patch for quite some time now, and his repeated low scores are now a matter of concern.

Pathan was unhappy with the squad selection as he tweeted: “No one comes back to form while resting…”

No one comes back to form while resting…

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) July 6, 2022

India’s hunt for T20I World Cup Squad

With the T20 World Cup around the corner, India’s selection committee has been trying out plenty of players in order to form a powerful squad. While players like Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik and Sanju Samson have returned to the playing combination, there are a few who have been impressive in the recent IPL season, and also in the past couple of seasons and as a result, have earned a place in the Indian squad.

Players like Deepak Hooda, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh are just a few to name, among many. With so many young, talented and deserving players emerging from the lot, resting the senior players at such a crucial time does not seem to be an appropriate move. Rohit and Kohli have already been out of form for quite some time now, and thus Pathan feels that being out of the game would not help them regain it.