KL Rahul supporters launched an expletive-laden attack on Rohit Sharma after the national selectors did not include his name in the squad for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan. On Sunday, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to India's T20I squad after 14 months, leaving KL Rahul on the sidelines.

 

Yet the dilemma over places in the national squad, especially for the T20 World Cup, sparked an intense buzz on social media, with even ex-India cricketers sharing memes on the issue.

 

Latest reports suggest that Rohit Sharma is on course to lead in the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US in June.

 

While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have made themselves available for the T20 World Cup, the latter's place in the national squad for the premier competition is reportedly not guaranteed as the selectors are keen to infuse fresh blood in the team.

 

“If you have Rohit, Shubman Gill, Virat, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik constituting your top five then where is your left-hander? Now, let's assume you drop Kohli and play Gill at No.3 with Yashasvi Jaiswal opening with Rohit. Can Ajit take that bold call,” a former national selector told PTI.

 

“The flexibility will always be an issue but there would always be external factors that need to be countered. Did you see ICC promoting the tourney with Kohli's giant billboard video in New York. MI handle put that aerial advert of Rohit and Shaheen Shah Afridi. So there will be external pressure,” the ex-BCCI office bearer affirmed.

 

“It will be on Jay how much he can empower Agarkar's committee. As of now you need to accommodate both or drop both. The sensible thing would be to include both for Afghanistan and not make any promise for World T20 till the IPL performance is monitored,” the veteran administrator explained.

 

Interestingly, the dilemma over Virat Kohli's place in India's T20 squad for the World Cup comes despite the Delhi-born cricketer being the highest run-getter in the last edition of the competition in Australia in 2022.

 

Moreover, if one talks about strike rate, which is the most crucial factor for a batter in T20Is, Virat Kohli's strike rate was much better than Rohit Sharma's in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

 

According to reports, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been picked for the T20I series against Afghanistan, with the rider that an impressive showing in the three matches against the Central Asian side isn't a guarantee for a place in the squad for the T20 World Cup later this year.

 

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has reportedly conveyed to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma that they would have to score heavily in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to be in contention for a spot in the T20 World Cup.

 

Unlike Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma hasn't been in the best of forms in T20Is. The 36-year-old made only 656 runs at an average of 24.29 and a strike rate of 134.42 in T20Is in 2022, the last year he featured for Team India in the format. 

 

In contrast, Virat Kohli was a prolific scorer in 2022, scoring 781 runs in 20 T20I matches at a superb average of 55.78 and a strike rate of 138.23.

 

If one talks about KL Rahul, the Karnataka batter has transformed his game, becoming a vital cog in Team India's Test and ODI squads.

 

Recently, KL Rahul struck a hundred on a fast-paced Centurion pitch in the first Test against South Africa. His ton was described as one of the best in history by an Indian batter by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.

 

KL Rahul now plays in the middle order and that too as a wicketkeeper-batter, lending balance to the Indian team, and that's why his admirers were critical of the selectors for excluding him from the T20I squad for the Afghanistan series.   

 

Coming to Rohit Sharma, even his captaincy has come under the spotlight in recent weeks, with multiple cricket pundits sharing critical views about Rohit Sharma's leadership, with Sanjay Manjrekar being the latest to slam the Nagpur-born cricketer for mistakes during India's recent tour of South Africa.

 

“In Test cricket if you lose moments, you lose the game. Rohit made mistakes in both Tests and while it cost us massively in the first game, thankfully Siraj had given allowance for the second Test. Siraj bowling just one over when Markram was scoring and the lead swelled to 60 was a mistake,” Sanjay Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.

 

“Rohit Sharma is still among the last of the old-school Test batters. Only he can tell us how much Test cricket he wants to play. I think if he wants to extend his Test career, there will be no competition. Virat Kohli I feel will play as long as possible and thankfully for us. This tour in tough conditions just the difference between him and the next best Test batter India has at least until Rishabh Pant is back,” Sanjay Manjrekar added.

 

Sanjay Manjrekar is not the only former Team India cricketer to question Rohit Sharma's on-field tactics during the Test series against South Africa.

 

Previously, India great Ravi Shastri blasted his leadership in India's first Test defeat to the Proteas in Centurian.

 

Ravi Shastri was particularly furious with Rohit Sharma employing Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur immediately after Lunch in South Africa's first innings at the SuperSport Park, allowing the hosts to take control of the proceedings on the pitch.

 

“On any pecking order, these two (Shardul and Prasidh) would have been the last to start the proceedings (after lunch). That's something that we've had a discussion multiple times when I was the coach. And more often than not we decided to go with the best two bowlers at the start of the session,” the ex-India all-rounder said on Star Sports.

 

Despite Rohit Sharma's poor captaincy, India won the second Test by seven wickets, powered by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj's six-wicket hauls in the second and first innings, respectively.

 

It helped India level the series at 1-1 after South Africa registered a win by an innings and 32 runs in the first Test.

 

On Thursday, Team India superstar Jasprit Bumrah ripped apart South Africa's batting line-up to script a flurry of records at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.

 

Among the milestones Jasprit Bumrah achieved during India's maiden victory at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Day 2 of the second Test against South Africa was joining Javagal Srinath as the second Indian bowler to pick three five-wicket hauls in the Rainbow Nation.

 

At Newlands, he led the pack for the Rohit Sharma-led side, finishing with 6/61 in the second innings to power the visitors to a comprehensive seven-wicket triumph.

 

With his ninth fifer in Test cricket, Jasprit Bumrah matched Javagal Srinath, who took five wickets thrice in an innings in South Africa during his illustrious career from 1991 to 2003.

 

Also, his six scalps against South Africa moved the Ahmedabad-born bowler to the third spot in the list of bowlers from India with the most wickets in red-call cricket against South Africa.

 

The tally of Jasprit Bumrah's wickets against the Proteas batters now reads 38. Only two Indian bowlers have more wickets than him against South Africa – Anil Kumble (45) and Javagal Srinath (43). Mohammed Shami (35) and Zaheer Khan (30) occupy the fourth and fifth places in the elite list.

 

Jasprit Bumrah's brilliant bowling display in the second Test between India and South Africa took him past Shane Warne in the list of visiting bowlers with the most wickets in Cape Town.

 

With his six wickets at Newlands, Jasprit Bumrah's tally surged to 18 in Cape Town, while Shane Warne has 17 wickets to his name at the picturesque ground.

 

England's Colin Blythe tops the charts in this category, having grabbed 25 wickets in Cape Town in four Test matches from 1906 to 1910.  

 

Additionally, Jasprit Bumrah put himself on an even keel with Zaheer Khan and Bhagwath Subramanya Chandrasekhar in the club of Indians with the second most five-wicket hauls in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) in the Whites.

 

The three are only behind the legendary Kapil Dev, who tops the list with seven fifers to his name in SENA nations.

 

Following his historic display at the Newlands Stadium, a delighted Jasprit Bumrah acknowledged that he enjoyed bowling on the track.

“Happy and a special venue to play here and do well. I kept it simple and got my rewards in the end. The journey started here in 2018, always have fond memories. Very happy it went well today. Our bowling unit was experienced and we wanted to make an impact. I didn't expect the game to go this fast,” Jasprit Bumrah said in the post-match presentation ceremony. 

 

“We are happy that we could sustain it in this series and got the win in the end. Yes, this was the shortest Test that I have ever played in my life. This was rapid and was too quick to my liking as well. Even we would have batted first had we won the toss and in the end, we got the result we wanted,” the Team India pace spearhead concluded.