Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma skipping the Duleep Trophy 2024 tournament has not gone down well with former India cricketer Suresh Raina. Raina has said that Kohli and Rohit should’ve played in the domestic tournament to gain red-ball experience ahead of the intense Test season.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli last played for India in the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka. Before that, they had featured in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 win in Barbados and retired from the format after the win in the final.
With India slated to play five Tests at home and five Tests in Australia, BCCI decided to include all centrally contracted players in the four squads for the Duleep Trophy tournament that begins on September 5.
However, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, along with R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Ravindra Jadeja were not picked by the BCCI. Siraj suffered from illness, while Jadeja was withdrawn without any reason.
Several Indian cricketers like Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Ruturaj Gaikwad are participating in the tournament.
“They Need To Practice”- Suresh Raina Says Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Should’ve Played Duleep Trophy 2024
Suresh Raina believes that Team India’s senior players, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, should have participated in the next Duleep Trophy. He stated that playing in the red-ball domestic competition would have helped the two batters prepare for the important Test season.
Raina did, however, underline the importance of the players spending time with their families on occasion. He stated that Sharma and Kohli would be aware of what they needed to prepare for the next home Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
“They should have played. We have not played any red-ball cricket after the IPL. If you are going for a big series, you need to play red-ball cricket. I think they are all mature enough and they know how they need to practice once they regroup. Sometimes family time is very important,” Raina said on Sports Tak.
The four teams in the Duleep Trophy will be captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Shreyas Iyer. This tournament can be seen as an audition for the Indian Test team for upcoming matches.
Notably, India is slated to play two Tests against Bangladesh and three Tests against New Zealand at home. They will then travel to Australia for a five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.