'Sourav, Sehwag, Yuvraj have been dropped': Venkatesh Prasad says players can't play on reputation, calls for 'action'
In response to England's 215-7, India lurched to 31-3 with the dismissals of captain Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli on Sunday continued his botched run in world cricket as he fell for just 11 in the third and final Twenty20 against England at Trent Bridge. The former skipper was caught in his attempt to produce a third consecutive boundary after getting a four and a straight six off David Willey. Kohli hit the wide delivery straight to Jason Roy at short extra cover, leaving India three down in the powerplay. Also Read | 'He is watching the game from outside...': Rohit Sharma's stern response to Kapil Dev over Virat Kohli's future
It was Suryakumar Yadav who led India's fightback, scoring 117 runs from 55 balls with 14 fours and six sixes. The right-handed batter needed just 16 balls to get from 50 to three figures. But his blistering ton went in vain as England managed to grab a consolation win, with India falling short on 198-9 in response to the hosts' 215-7.
While Suryakumar had the crowd on its feet, Kohli extended his lean patch, having scored only 12 runs in his two Twenty20s of the series. He had gathered just 31 across two innings in the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston.
It remains to be seen whether struggling names enjoy a long rope from the Indian team management. But former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad believes out-of-form players should face the axe irrespective of reputation. He even underlined how Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan saw ouster during their spell with the national team.
“There was a time when you were out of form, you would be dropped irrespective of reputation. Sourav, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Bhajji all have been dropped when not in form. They have went back to domestic cricket, scored runs and staged a comeback," tweeted Prasad.
“The yardsticks seem to have changed drastically now, where there is rest for being out of form. This is no way for progress. There is so much talent in the country and cannot play on reputation. One of India’s greatest match-winner, Anil Kumble sat out on so many occasions, need actions for the larger good," he added.
While many are unsure about Kohli's place in the Twenty20 side, Rohit Sharma extended support to the star batter and lavished praise on his "quality".
"If you talk about form then everyone goes through ups and downs. The Player's quality does not get affected. So, we should keep these things in our minds. When a player is doing well for so many years, then one or two bad series does not make him a bad player.
"We should not overlook his past performances. We who are in the team know the importance of the player. They have got all the right to talk about it but it does not matter for us too much," said Rohit in a post-match press conference.
Rohit was effusive in praise of Suryakymar, who single-handedly put India within touching distance of a win. He became the fifth Indian batter to reach the three-figure mark. Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, KL Rahul, and Deepak Hooda had earlier scored centuries in the shortest format of the sport.
"Disappointed that he was not there till the end, but it takes nothing away from his knock. You do not get to see that too often. We will take that with both hands as a team. He has shots all over the ground, it is a very rare quality that a batter can have. It is a good sign for us to have a player like that in the squad," said the India skipper.