Srinagar: Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has said that leaving out an experienced player like Cheteshwar Pujara ans Ajinkya Rahane or not considering them is very hard but they had to take a tough call for the first two Tests vs England.
Pujara and Rahane were dropped in the initial list when team was announced. However, when Virat Kohli decided to skip the first two matches against England, the possibility of including either Pujara or Rahane to the India Test squad was discussed widely. But , India opted to bring in Rajat Patidar as Kohli’s replacement.
“Look, actually, we did think about it (going back to a senior player). But all these younger players, when are they going to get their opportunity? That’s something we thought, I thought as well,” Rohit said during his pre-match press conference.
“Leaving out an experienced player or not considering them is very hard. The amount of runs they’ve scored, the kind of experience they’ve had, the amount of games they have won for us, you know, it’s very hard to ignore all of that,” the skipper had all empathy for his longtime teammates.
“But, you know, you sometimes have to bring certain players into your set-up as well. You have to give them favourable conditions as you don’t want to expose them on foreign doors, where they’ve not played before. So, I think it’s important that we try and get some of these youngsters an opportunity,” said Rohit.