Will Virat Kohli Travel To England For Five-Test Series? All Depends On Shubman Gill: Report (Photo credit: Instagram @shubmangill)
India skipper Rohit Sharma is expected to take a call over his future at an appropriate time, while Virat Kohli's England tour fate depends on Shubman Gill, according to the latest report. Rohit and Kohli copped a lot of criticism for their form in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and questions were raised over their careers, with both above 35 years of age.
According to a report in The Hindustan Times, the future of Kohli and Rohit was discussed in a BCCI review meeting which was attended by head coach Gautam Gambhir, Rohit, Ajit Agarkar, BCCI joint secretary Devajit Saikia and ICC chairman Jay Shah.
The ICC chairman was invited as he had held a review after the defeat to New Zealand. India had lost to the Kiwis 0-3 at home in one of their biggest losses in recent times.
The report says that while BCCI officials left it up to Agarkar and his men to take the call on Rohit and Kohli, they are worried about Rohit's dwindling numbers in Tests. Rohit scored only 164 runs in the last eight Tests, comprising a solitary half-century. 31 of those runs came in the five knocks he played in Australia, where he averaged a miserable 6.2.
"That is not to say that Rohit’s “I am not going anywhere” statement is how things will ultimately transpire. The selectors are known to be worried about Rohit’s falling graph in Tests, but the understanding is that the captain will take a considered decision at the appropriate time," a source told The Hindustan Times.
Barring a hundred in Perth, Kohli only managed 90 more runs to script a forgettable tour of Australia.
"With the five-Test series against England still five months away, the selectors are likely to sit over the matter before forming an opinion. Shubman Gill hasn’t settled into the Kohli role as he was expected to; nowhere close to how ready Kohli was when Sachin Tendulkar hung up his boots," the source said.
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