The BCCI on Thursday announced an 18-man squad for the five-match T20I series against West Indies in Trinidad starting July 29.
Captain Rohit Sharma will return to the side after a rest from the ODIs, while in-form Jasprit Bumrah and wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal have been rested for the series.
The most notable boycott is that of former India captain Virat Kohli. The batsman, who has been out of touch for over a year now, is already under suspicion as several former cricketers have raised questions about his place in the shortest format.
Read also: India’s T20 squad for West Indies tour: Virat Kohli Left out; Ashwin, KL Rahul return
While the Indian Cricket Board has not yet clarified whether Kohli has been rested or dropped, fans on the other hand have already given their verdict. The word ‘dropped’ started trending on Twitter soon after the team was announced.
People took to Twitter to share their sentiments about the former Indian captain being dropped from the T20 squad.
A fan wrote ‘Thanks for everything Virat Kohli’, hinting that the 33-year-old is done with the T20 format.
Thnx for everything @imVkohli I
, (@Dhanushvk_) 14 July 2022
Another emotional fan of Kohli wrote ‘Without him? No Cricket for me’
Without him? no cricket for me pic.twitter.com/f1lZbuZSNF
— manish18 (@manish185763015) 14 July 2022
Some fans want a response from the board to drop the former captain’s name from the team. This user wrote, ‘Where is Virat..?’
Where is Virat..? pic.twitter.com/4YNAVRMa2N
— Harshitaa (@Harshitaa2003) 14 July 2022
Some people have also been defending the star batsman. Peter Miller, The cricket writer and broadcaster wrote, ‘Virat Kohli has been far from his best performance over the years, but I think the obsession of cricket with goal numbers “since his last century” is telling a lot. . Since the last time Kohli scored a century, Babar Azam has more than 50+ scores in international cricket.
“Since his last century, Kohli has scored 2521 runs at 36 with 94*. Let’s talk about his form, not the arbitrary landmark,” Miller said.
Kohli has scored 2521 runs at 36 with 94* since his last century. Let’s talk about their appearance, not about arbitrary destinations.
— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) 14 July 2022
A fan accused the cricket board of saying that it was a ‘propaganda’ of the BCCI.
@BCCI intentionally disallowing @imVkohli To play T20 matches. Seriously man just look at the stats how many t20 internationals kohli has played in 2 years. propaganda planned by the administration of #BCCI
— Aman Jha (@AmanJha68865006) 14 July 2022
Another fan accused the BCCI of ‘forcing’ Kohli to think about retirement.
Old game played by BCCI. Indirectly forcing King Kohli to think about retirement. Players who took Indian cricket to such great moments. The BCCI is requested to respect Kohli’s stature and allow him to play for as long as it wants.
— Adi (@adi88983354) 14 July 2022
before, World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev questioned Kohli’s place in the T20I XI as he said the 33-year-old is not batting at the level he used to.
“Yes, now the situation is such that you may be forced to drop Kohli from the T20 playing XI. If world No 2 bowler Ashwin can be dropped from the Test team then (once) the world No 1 batsman can also be dropped,” Kapil Dev told ABP News.
“Virat is not batting at the level we have seen him do over the years. He has earned a name because of his performance but if he is not performing, you cannot keep performing youngsters out of the team,” the World Cup winning captain further added.
star India The batsman could not play the first ODI against England due to a mild strain in the waist. The availability of the former India captain for the second ODI is still doubtful.
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