IND vs AFG 2024: “Rohit Sharma back in T20I side because of his performance in ODI World Cup 2023” – Aakash Chopra

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes Rohit Sharma is back in the T20I side because of his performance in the ODI World Cup 2023. Rohit was at his blistering best in the ODI showpiece and played a key role in taking India to the summit clash.

Rohit scored 597 runs in 11 matches of the World Cup 2023 at an average of 54.27 and a blistering strike rate of 125.95. The talisman scored three fifties and one century in the ODI showpiece. Thus, the veteran played an instrumental role in giving solid starts at the top of the order.

Rohit had last played in the T20I format in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2022 and will make a return to the shortest version after 14 months.

“It is not that they were unavailable everywhere, they must have been available at times, but the selectors said no, because right now, we are going to look into a different direction,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“One of the reasons considered for the defeat of the World Cup 2022, the poor performance in the tournament, was that everyone else was playing very aggressively. Pakistan and everyone else played aggressively, we used to play defensively. 36 runs in six overs was our template for match after match. We said we will try to make 100 runs in 10 overs, but we didn’t play that cricket,” Chopra further added.

The renowned commentator hailed Rohit Sharma for his explosive batting in the ODI World Cup. Furthermore, Virat Kohli finished the tournament as the highest run-getter with 765 runs in 11 matches at an average of 95.62 and a strike rate of 90.32. Ergo, he was awarded Player of the tournament for his consistent performances.

“After this, the ODI World Cup happened, where Rohit was in explosive form. He was playing ODI cricket like it was the T20 format. Virat Kohli became the player of the tournament,” Chopra concluded on the matter.

INDIA SQUAD FOR AFGHANISTAN T20Is
Rohit Sharma (C), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, W Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.