New Delhi: The Indian team management tended to experiment with the playing XI lineups throughout the white-ball leg of the series against the West Indies.
Despite being available throughout the ODIs, India's captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, two of their key batters, were rested for the second and third games of the three-match series.
Kohli was also not given the opportunity to bat in the first ODI despite the fact that India lost five wickets in a low-scoring chase.
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Even though the goal may have been to hone the young players in the squad before the crucial ODI World Cup later this year, some of the choices received backlash from fans on social media.
Rohit and Kohli haven't played in any T20Is this year, and they didn't play in the West Indies series either. India had a difficult start, dropping the first two games before winning the third by seven wickets and staying in the five-match rubber.
Salman Butt, a former Pakistani captain, has also criticized India's experiments in the white-ball formats, and the team management is still under fire.
Butt insisted that the quality is not the same without some of the team's experienced players, citing Hardik's comment from 2021 that India could play three different teams and win any competition.
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“It's not an ideal combination when their key players are not playing. If Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma are not playing, if their experienced players are missing, it's not the same thing. They say they can make three different teams. Yes, talent pool and exposure is there, but the quality without their key players shows that the team cannot perform at the same level,” said the former Pakistan skipper.
“Senior players carry their weight, their experience makes a difference on opposition as well.”
It appears more likely that India is preparing for life without the star duo in the shortest format given that neither Rohit nor Kohli are even close to being in the mix for T20Is. In the meantime, Jasprit Bumrah will return to the team for the first time since September when India plays Ireland in a three-match T20I series beginning on August 18. In the bilateral series, the team will be captained by the star pacer as well.
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