After two back-to-back defeats to Bangladesh resulting in an ODI series loss for the Rohit Sharma-captained Indian team, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will hold a review meeting. BCCI’s office-bearers will meet coach Rahul Dravid, NCA chief VVS Laxman, Rohit and former skipper Virat Kohli once the team returns from the tour of Bangladesh.
The BCCI was to conduct a review meeting following India’s loss to England in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup but some of the BCCI officials were busy. But the two losses in Mirpur to seventh ranked Bangladesh has made BCCI officials anxious with the 50-over World Cup to be hosted in India less than a year away.
India has not won a major ICC title since the 2013 Champions Trophy win.
“We weren’t able to meet the Indian team before going to Bangladesh as some of the office bearers were busy but we will schedule it as soon as the team is back from Bangladesh. It has been an embarrassing performance and we didn’t expect this team to lose to Bangladesh,” a top BCCI official said.
With Hardik Pandya likely to take over as T20 captain, it waits to be seen how much of a long rope the BCCI will give Rohit, the ODI captain.
Rohit didn’t have a good T20 World Cup with the bat and the tame manner in which India lost the semifinal to England (10-wicket win) is being seen as a major setback to India’s ambitions to win an ICC Trophy in white-ball cricket.
Rohit is 35 and the BCCI may want to retain him as captain for the next year’s 50-over World Cup on home soil, with Pandya being groomed keeping in mind the next T20 World Cup in 2024 in the West Indies and United States. However, a future roadmap on captaincy will be clearer once the review meeting is held, a BCCI official said.
During the T20 World Cup in Australia, the Indian team didn’t look T20-ready despite getting a year to plan.
The team that played Down Under was blighted by several weaknesses, including pedestrian openers, lack of an effective finisher, no express pace in the bowling line-up, and no wrist-spinner. It was often the big-hitting of Suryakumar Yadav, the No.1-ranked batsman in the T20 format, who saved India’s blushes.
The BCCI is also yet to appoint a new senior selection committee after it decided not to renew the tenure of Chetan Sharma, Sunil Joshi, Debashish Mohanty and Harvinder Singh.
