IPL 2019 performance shouldn’t be criteria for World Cup selection: Rohit Sharma
Although Indian cricket team skipper and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have differed in their interpretation of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 season from the ICC World Cup point of view, limited overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma has also echoed Virat Kohli’s words by suggesting that performances in the T20 league shouldn’t influence World Cup selection in the team.
During the limited overs series against Australia before the start of the IPL, Kohli had suggested that the team for the World Cup is all but sorted, with a discussion expected only on one or two places. While Indian players’ performances in the IPL is expected to influence the selection committee’s decision, Rohit is of the opinion that it shouldn’t be the case.
“With their inputs, the selectors will keep an eye on what is happening with those guys in IPL although I feel IPL should not be the criteria for team selection,” he was quoted as saying by PTI at the launch of a new website cricket.com on Thursday
“They have played enough international matches to see where each individual stands. You can’t select a team for the 50-over format from a 20-over event, it’s my personal opinion. IPL is a different ball game. It’s franchise cricket and yes, form matters a lot.
“In the last four years we have played enough One Day International matches, enough T20 cricket. That should be enough for guys to understand these are the players that we want,” he added.
Rohit wasn’t entirely submissive of the fact that IPL isn’t going to help players ahead of the World Cup, as the Mumbai Indians captain admitted that form plays a big role going into the showpiece event.
“Every time we play IPL, there is some big event right after happening – a big Test series or big one-day series. It does help also. 35-plus or 40 guys will probably need some rest. I was talking to Jasprit (Bumrah) the other day. He needs to play a lot of matches and bowl a lot to be match fit than be at home. I also, as a batter, need to play,” Rohit said.
