They could have been selected for Duleep trophy – Sanjay Manjrekar on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s struggles in first innings against Bangladesh

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar reiterated that the veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli could have played in the domestic red-ball tournament, Duleep trophy to prepare themselves for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.

While Rohit last played in the red-ball format in the five-match Test series against England, Kohli last featured in Test cricket against South Africa, earlier in the year.

Furthermore, Rohit last played in the Duleep trophy for Mumbai in 2016 whereas Kohli last played domestic cricket for Delhi in 2012.

Manjrekar noted that the lack of game time was evident when India was put into bat by Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto in challenging conditions in Chennai.

“When you have to bat on a pitch like this. First up, Rohit Sharma was going to bowl as well, so they all saw the pick and realised the first hour or maybe the whole session was going to be tricky. The case that it’s something you get at virtually every stadium where the first hour is challenging,” Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo.

“Rohit Sharma had his work cut out you know he was doing what he does best, to take his time. But you know two good balls in the right length got him into trouble,” he added.

Manjrekar had earlier mentioned that the duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should take part in the Duleep trophy.

“I said a few weeks back as well that considering the amount of international matches Rohit and Virat played in the last five years, they could have been picked for the Duleep Trophy and I’m sure the time out there would have just held them at least in the first innings where they suddenly came out cold and having had to bat first,” he commented.

Meanwhile, India finished in a strong position at 339-6 after Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja scored 102 and 86 runs respectively.