India vs Afghanistan T20 World Cup 2021: Decision to demote Rohit Sharma was taken by entire management, says Vikram Rathour

Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour revealed that it was the decision of the entire management, including Rohit Sharma, to change the regular opener’s batting position.

Rohit Sharma batted at the No. 3 position in game against New Zealand in T20 World Cup 2021. (Photo: IANS)

Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma is a veteran of over 113 T20Is but on Sunday (October 31) night, the Mumbai Indians skipper was demoted to the No. 3 which has raised plenty of eyebrows. Virat Kohli’s Team India slumped to back-to-back defeats in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 against Pakistan and New Zealand.

Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour revealed that it was the decision of the entire management, including Rohit, to change the regular opener’s batting position. “Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) had back spasms on Saturday night, which meant he couldn’t take the field against New Zealand. Ishan Kishan was the choice to replace him. So the entire team management, including Rohit himself, took the decision that Ishan Kishan should open the batting with KL Rahul. Tactically the decision made sense as well with a left-handed batsman up the order,” Rathour revealed during the virtual press conference ahead of India’s match against Afghanistan on Wednesday (November 3).

#OnThisDay Rohit Sharma scored his First-ever double hundred against australia at banglore in 2013
He scored 209(158) And Become third player To Score double century in ODIs@ImRo45 #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/afACVFM2L2 — Atharva Gawas (@adgawas18) November 2, 2021

Team India have only managed to score 150 and 110 in their two games against Pakistan and New Zealand. The failure of their batsmen, especially Hardik Pandya, have pushed the team into a corner.

“Hardik is not the only finisher that we have, (Ravindra) Jadeja is great at the end of the innings as well. Surya and Virat (Kohli) have been doing the job as well in the past. The problem is that you can only pick 15 players for the World Cup. We don’t see lack of Hardik’s replacement as an issue,” Rathour said.

“One of the factors for the poor show of the batsmen is the pitch. There is variation in bounce and pace. Big shots are not easy to execute which is more to do with the nature of the surface in Dubai,” the former India opener felt.

Asked if the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 was the ideal preparation ahead of the T20 World Cup, Rathour said, “Any preparation is good preparation. IPL provides a great platform to the players. It’s just that we are not able to execute our plans in the last couple of games,” Rathour said.