BCCI to leave it to Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli to decide their T20I future

India's T20 squad will undergo a significant transition in the next 24 months because senior players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin will be gradually eased out, BCCI sources said on Thursday.

Also Read: Indian top order versus left-arm pacers: A problem that needs a solution

While it appears that Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik have played their last games in the shortest format, the BCCI will leave it to Kohli and Rohit to decide on their T20I future. After the team's humiliating defeat in the T20 World Cup semifinal, the head coach consoled a visibly upset Rohit. Rahul Dravid, who fronted the media after the match.

The next T20 World Cup is still two years away. However, there is a chance that there will be a brand new team in place. Hardik Pandya is the long-term captaincy choice.

"The BCCI never asks anyone to retire. It is an individual decision. But yes, with just a handful of T20Is scheduled in 2023, most of the seniors will concentrate on ODIs and Test matches in that cycle."

a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity

"You don't need to announce retirement if you don't want to. You will not see most of the seniors playing T20 next year," the source added.

"It's too early to talk about it right now" - said Dravid on the future of Rohit & Kohli

India head coach Rahul Dravid said it was too early to talk about transition when PTI asked him about the future of senior players like Kohli and Rohit.

"It's too early to talk about it right now just after a semi-final game. These guys have been terrific performers for us. As you said, we have a couple of years to reflect on it."

Dravid said

While some of the players have been contemporary greats of the game, Dravid doesn't want anyone to write them off in haste.

Read Also: T20 World Cup: Same old story, India losses yet another knockout match | 5 Reasons behind India's loss

"There are some really good quality players here, so absolutely not the right time to talk about this stuff or think about this stuff right now.

"We'll have enough games, enough matches as we go on ahead, and India will try and build and prepare for the next World Cup," the head coach added.

Rohit and Kohli are huge names and the BCCI is likely to leave it up to them to decide about charting the course for the next phase of their careers.

Rohit is 35 now and in two years he will be 37. So, he is not expected to lead a T20I team in a global meet.

In the case of Karthik's role as a designated finisher, it was a short-term arrangement keeping in mind the T20 World Cup.

Also Read: T20 WC 2022 | INDvZIM: All the records made by Indian players

As far as Ashwin is concerned, there was no serious threat perception in minds of the opposition batters during the entire tournament. Three of his six wickets in six games came in the Zimbabwe match and an economy rate of 8.15 was nothing to write home about.