The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday 30 July announced the squad for the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, starting August 18. The Indian team management rested key players again, including players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and, Jasprit Bumrah. These players did not play the ODI series against West Indies. Even Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are not a part of the current T20I series in mistake.
Shikhar Dhawan, who led India to a 3-0 series win against the West Indies, will lead a 15-man squad on the tour of Zimbabwe. Fans are already questioning BCCI’s decision to rest senior players after just one series, as seven players have captained the Indian cricket team since the beginning of this year. Former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif is unhappy about this and compared the Indian team to the Pakistan team of the 1990s mistake.
Rashid Latif said on his YouTube channel,
“Everybody talks about backup, but they have now made seven backup captains in the last one year! This is happening for the first time in the history of India. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah, are repeating the same mistake that Pakistan did in the 1990s. The Pakistani veteran has also said that the captains are not getting continuous opportunities. The team will have to find alternatives like MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly.
Regarding Captaincy Saga, Rashid Latif said,
“They have neither got any solid opener nor do they have a stable middle order. All they need is a new captain. No captain is playing for them continuously. KL Rahul is unfit now ; Rohit was unfit earlier. Virat is mentally unwell. So he has to think about it. He is changing so many captains. He needs a leader like Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli.”
