Analysis
When Virat Kohli dropped 4 players from ODI Team: Who’s in and Who’s out
MS Dhoni left his legacy as a captain to Virat Kohli in the year 2016. Since then, India prospered in all the formats of the game. Kohli was one of the best captains India has ever produced. After MS Dhoni, he didn’t give the fans a reason to worry about the team even though India couldn’t win a single trophy. However, Virat Kohli dropped four players from the squad during his tenure from 2017 to 2021.
There might be several reasons behind this. As a captain, his job was to focus on the betterment of the team. However, because of these, some potential players got side-lined from the ODI team. Thus, that became a question mark during his captaincy tenure as people failed to understand his decisions.
Let’s talk about the players who were dropped by Virat Kohli from the ODI team.
4. Ravichandran Ashwin:
Ravi Ashwin (Source: X)
Ravichandran Ashwin is still India’s one of the best bowlers in Tests and ODIs. However, the off-spinner was a regular member of the ODI team until he was dropped for the Champions Trophy match against Pakistan in 2017. He did not play another ODI for India until the 2023 World Cup, where he played only one game. He was replaced by younger spinners like Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Axar Patel.
3. Ravindra Jadeja:
Ravindra Jadeja (Source: X)
India’s Ravindra Jadeja is one such all-rounder who can perform on all the stages of the match. The all-rounder was also dropped from the team after the Sri Lanka tour in 2017, where he failed to impress with his batting and bowling. Jadeja was out of the ODIs for a year, until he made a comeback in the Asia Cup in 2018. He played in the 2019 World Cup but was not a regular in the team. He was dropped again for the South Africa tour in 2021, where Axar Patel took his place.
2. Ajinkya Rahane:
Ajinkya Rahane (Source: X)
The middle-order batter, Ajinkya Rahane, was a consistent performer in the ODIs, especially in international events. However, he lost his place in the team after the South Africa tour in 2018, where he struggled to score runs. He did not play another ODI for India until the 2024 World Cup, where he was a reserve player. He was replaced by players like Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rishabh Pant.
1. Shreyas Iyer:
Shreyas Iyer (Source: X)
India’s one of the best spin players, Shreyas Iyer, has always been unfit most of the time. However, the young batter was one of the contenders for the No.4 spot in the ODI, which was a problem area for India. He played in the home series against Australia and New Zealand in 2020, where he scored two centuries and two fifties. However, he was dropped from the team for the South Africa tour in 2021, where he was replaced by Hardik Pandya, who returned from injury. He did not play another ODI for India until the 2024 World Cup, where he was a reserve player.