Rahul Dravid clears the air on Virat Kohli’s absence from T20Is: “There are certain white-ball tournaments that we have to prioritize”

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has clarified that Virat Kohli has been rested and not dropped from the T20I squad. On the day when the 34-year-old was named in the ICC Men’s T20I XI for 2022, Dravid explained that Kohli has been given a break from T20Is because the team management is prioritizing certain white-ball tournaments.

Kohli and Rohit Sharma were not part of the Indian T20I team that took on Sri Lanka. The duo have been left out of the T20I squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand as well, leading to speculation about their future in the shortest format.

At a press conference ahead of the third ODI between India and New Zealand in Indore, Dravid cleared the air around the absence of Kohli and Rohit from T20Is. He explained:

“There’s certain priority we need to give to certain white-ball tournaments at particular stages of time. With the amount to cricket we are playing - the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the World Test Championship - there are certain white-ball tournaments that we have to prioritize.

“The priority after the T20 World Cup has been these six (ODI) games and Virat has played all these six games. He will get a break, along with Rohit and one or two other guys in the next week while we play some T20 cricket. They come refreshed on the 2nd and we have a good week’s camp before we play Australia. So we just have to prioritize certain formats.”

Following the conclusion of the white-ball series against New Zealand, India will take on Australia in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with the first Test starting in Nagpur on February 9.

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“He has been a phenomenal cricketer for India” - Rahul Dravid on Rohit Sharma

It has been nearly 10 years since Indian skipper Rohit started opening the innings in ODIs regularly. Since then, he has gone on to establish himself as a white-ball legend and remains the only batter with three ODI double hundreds.

Asked for his thoughts on Rohit’s rise as a batter, Dravid hailed the opener and said:

"He has been a phenomenal cricketer for India. I remember seeing him for the first time when he was 17 or 18, just came out of Under 19s, you could see that you are looking at something slightly different and he has gone on to prove that. You look at a lot of kids, who look different at 19 but not all of them go on to actually achieve their potential."

Describing being asked to open as a turning point in Rohit’s career, Dravid added:

“His hallmark has been his performances in ICC tournaments that we saw in 2019 but also his ability that to score big runs, someone who has got three double hundreds in this format (ODI) is absolutely phenomenal achievement.

"He has been incredibly successful. He is someone who has got that kind of game. You can't think of a kind of bowling to bowl to him. When he is playing well, you can't bowl fast and short to him, he takes down spinners, he plays swing well. He has got a really good complete game.”

Rohit has been in good form lately, having registered three half-centuries in his last six ODI knocks.