‘Ishan bhi bolega mujhe khilao, mai Ranchi ka hu…’ – Rohit Sharma on not including players at their home ground

Despite missing Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul during their most recent ODI series against New Zealand, India’s depth barely allowed them to notice their absence. India consistently scored high throughout the series because of the brilliant play of opener Shubman Gill and other top-order batters, even though their substitutes Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav didn’t entirely dominate the series.

Rohit himself scored his ODI hundred After three years in the third match against Blackcaps and also said that the team will look to give opportunities to players as they can.

Rajat Patidar was one player who struggled to make an appearance during the series, despite some fans’ expectations that he would take the field since India had already won the series by that point. According to Rohit, the squad is choosing players for games in accordance with the strategies they have created in the lead-up to the World Cup later this year.

I know maybe we could have played him in Indore: Rohit Sharma

“If we can find space for him we will get him to play. Right now there is Kohli at No.3, and Ishan Kishan at No.4 – he had sat out the last series after scoring a double century. At No.5 is Suryakumar Yadav, the whole world knows what he has been doing, and then at No.6, there is Hardik Pandya. We want everyone to play but we cannot do that unless we find space for them,” said Rohit about Patidar.

The final match of the series against the Kiwis was played at the Holkar Stadium, Indore which is where the batter plays for his domestic team Madhya Pradesh.

“I know maybe we could have played him in Indore. In Ranchi, Ishan will also say, let me play, I am from Ranchi. But that is not how it works, we go according to some plans. Everyone will get a chance. That is what we have told the boys, we will give you a chance to play whenever we can but that opportunity should arise, there are a lot of boys waiting in line,” said the 35-year-old.