Rohit Sharma's exclusion from Indian Test team on 2019 WI tour shocks Dilip Vengsarkar

Former Indian cricket captain Dilip Vengsarkar was recently involved in a live chat with Sportskeeda. Vengsarkar, who also served as India's chief selector in the mid to late 2000s, spoke about how he felt when Rohit Sharma was excluded from the Test XI during India’s 2019 tour of West Indies, i.e. just one month after the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup. In the quadrennial event, Rohit Sharma scored 648 runs to top the run-scoring charts and he struck five centuries in the process.

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Dilip Vengsarkar asks - “How can you drop Rohit Sharma?”

Dilip Vengsarkar said that he was “shocked” to see Rohit Sharma getting dropped from the playing XI for the 2-match Test series in West Indies. The former cricketer spoke about the form of the opening batsman throughout the World Cup and emphasised on his record-breaking five centuries in the event. Vengsarkar cited his match-winning knock of 140 against Pakistan and indirectly slammed the selection team led by MSK Prasad back then for not considering Rohit Sharma despite his gigantic efforts and superlative form prior to the tour.

Rohit Sharma, however, did play the three-match home Test series against South Africa in October 2019 where he ended up scoring 529 runs across four innings. In the series, he was appointed to open the innings for India for the first time in Test cricket.

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Dilip Vengsarkar opens up on Virat Kohli’s debut

In the live chat, Vengsarkar also spoke about what prompted him to induct Virat Kohli in the Indian team when he was the chief selector back in 2008. He stated that he was highly impressed by the then 18-year old’s performance in the four-nation Emerging Players Tournament in Australia in 2008 where the present Indian captain scored 206 runs in six innings. Dilip Vengsarkar referred to Virat Kohli’s unbeaten knock of 120 against New Zealand Emerging Players during India’s successful run-chase.

The cricketer-turned-selector described Virat Kohli’s match-winning knock by saying he appreciated how the batsman stayed till the end to ensure an Indian win. Dilip Vengsarkar also said that the selection committee had already decided to pick “fringe” players from the tournament, which is why they went with Virat Kohli.

Interestingly, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made their respective international debuts when Dilip Vengsarkar was the Chairman of Selectors. While Kohli debuted in 2008, Sharma made his first appearance for Team India a year earlier. Both cricketers played under the leadership of MS Dhoni during the beginning phase of their careers.

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