'Why is he rested?' - Twitter not happy with BCCI not including Rohit Sharma for West Indies ODIs

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s squad for the upcoming ODI series against West Indies, and it came as a shock for many when they saw Rohit Sharma’s name missing from the squad. The Indian all-format skipper, who was out of the recently concluded Test match against England, and also the T20I series against South Africa, has once again been rested.

Apart from Rohit Sharma, players of the senior team like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Rishabh Pant have also been rested. The Indian side will be led by Shikhar Dhawan, who will be back in the Blues after a gap of more than five months as he last played an international match in February 2022 against the same opponents.

Rohit had tested positive for Covid-19 post his arrival in the UK for the Test match. After he returned multiple positive reports, he was ruled out of the rescheduled fifth Test and Jasprit Bumrah was named as the stand-in captain. Rohit’s form in the IPL was a matter of concern, as the opening batter and skipper could not manage to score a big knock.

Rohit Sharma has not played much international cricket since taking over the captaincy

Rohit Sharma has not played an international match since the conclusion of the Test series against Sri Lanka in March 2022. The Indian players finished off the Sri Lanka series and played the Indian Premier League next, but even there the 35-year-old Mumbai Indians skipper went through a rough patch.

He was rested during the home series against South Africa as KL Rahul was named the captain of the side. But due to his injury, he was ruled out ahead of the series and Rishabh Pant was given the duties as the team was seen struggling in the first two games which they eventually lost. It looked like the side lacked experienced players like Sharma, Kohli, and many others like Bumrah and Shami.

Rohit Sharma will next be seen donning the captaincy hat against England in the forthcoming T20I and ODI series. The Indian team will conclude the England tour on July 17 by playing the third and final ODI of the bilateral series and will fly to the West Indies for the next stint. Sharma, despite being the Indian skipper, has been in and out of the Indian team and netizens were not at all happy with the board’s decision to rest him.