Cricket News: DHARAMSHALA: It’s not often Rohit Sharma cuts a quiet figure in a team setting. On Friday evening, he ambled around the centre square, casually joinin.
DHARAMSHALA: It’s not often that one finds Rohit Sharma playing a passive role in a team environment. On Friday evening here, he strolled around centre square casually juggling fielding drills while the others had a more focused session before hitting the nets. He has never been the most energetic or agile on the field. But his presence always commanded authority. The familiar banter went missing as he cut an unusually forlorn picture.The ODI World Cup in South Africa is still 15 months away. But the audition for places in the Indian team will be underway with the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan starting here on Saturday. A 39-year-old Rohit, with 282 ODIs, 33 centuries and 11577 runs to his name, is now fighting to justify his place in the team and convince the team management that he will be physically able to endure the rigours of high-pressure sport. The concerns only multiplied when he missed a big chunk of matches for Mumbai Indians due to a hamstring injury this season.For a player of this stature to maintain a distance from the team think tank during a three-hour training is unusual. While head coach Gautam Gambhir was literally in captain Shubman Gill’s ears once he was done with his batting in the nets, Rohit quietly moved into the nets at the centre square for a second stint of batting. When everyone else in the team wrapped up the session, Rohit decided to practice his slip catching with fielding coach T Dilip before Ishan Kishan joined him to hone his wicketkeeping skills.This can’t be a pleasant scenario for young captain like Gill either. Leading up to the previous World Cup, it was captain Rohit who preferred Gill’s youthful exuberance over an experienced Shikhar Dhawan. Gill now has to decide if he wants to give a run to the young Yashasvi Jaiswal to open with him instead of an age if Rohit. On Friday evening, Gill eventually walked up to Rohit for a short conversation after checking the pitch before leaving for the team hotel.Every time Rohit’s name came up in the pre-match press conference, India’s bowling coach dismissed the discussion, saying: “Rohit is moving well and training well. He has passed all the fitness tests. His presence calms the dressing room.”It’s unfair to judge anyone’s form going by the nets session. But the rustiness in his batting was evident. Hitting his stride after sizeable breaks will always be an issue with him since he opted to play just this one format for India. But then, this is how the deal will be for Rohit till he settles every doubt about him.Team to rotate between Ishan, KL and JaiswalWith Virat Kohli missing from the series due to a hamstring injury, the team management sees this series an opportunity to try out Ishan Kishan and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Morkel claimed that the team is going to rotate between first-choice wicketkeeper KL Rahul, Ishan and Jaiswal.“In terms of that No. 3 slot, I think that's something we'll play around with. Even if it's Ishan or KL or Yashasvi, it's a nice opportunity now. We've got a couple of one-day games coming up and we'll give guys opportunity in different slots just to give ourselves a better idea in terms of how we can go and structure teams,” Morkel said.Catch all the latest India vs Afghanistan Live Score, Scorecard, Match Highlights and IND vs AFG Ball-by-Ball Commentary.Get the latest Sports news and live updates. Download the TOI App.
