VIRENDER SEHWAG BRUTALLY SLAMS RAVI SHAHTRI, BCCI ON ROHIT SHARMA’S RECENT MISMANAGEMENT 

A day after Mumbai Indians (MI) opener Rohit Sharma returned to the field to play against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH); he shocked all theories about his injury surrounding him.

After his return to the field, former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag, slammed Indian head coach Ravi Shastri and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for ‘mismanaging’ skipper over non-selection for Australia tour. 

Earlier this week, the BCCI announced the squad for the Australian tour and India’s limited-overs but Rohit Sharma, was not included in any of the teams. His exclusion from the T20I, Test and ODI squads for the Australia tour has left fans and cricket experts shocked.

Rohit sustained a hamstring injury during Mumbai Indians’ (MI) match against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Dubai, since then he was on rest and warmed the bench for the next few matches. 

During the announcement of the names for the Australia tour, the BCCI stated that Rohit is unfit and the medical team will constantly monitor him. But, videos of Rohit practising in the nets went viral which caused a massive controversy on social media. 

Amid the outcry, Virender Sehwag has also questioned Ravi Shastri and the BCCI over Rohit’s mismanagement, stating that it must not have happened with a player of such stature.

“I don’t think that it is possible that Ravi Shastri did not know about Rohit Sharma’s situation. Even if he is not a part of the selection committee, the selectors must have spoken to him a day or two days ago regarding what is he thinking, and taken his feedback and inputs,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz. 

“I do not agree with this statement of Ravi Shastri that he is not a part of the selection committee. Even if it is not official, the coach and captain must have spoken unofficially to the selectors regarding who should be in the team for the Australia tour,” he further added.

Further lashing out at the BCCI, Sehwag said that if Rohit was not fit, then the board could have still kept him in the squad and called in a replacement with time if needed.

“I am surprised to see that a player who is ready to play for the franchise has not been selected to play for the country. This is surprising and mismanagement from the BCCI. They should have taken all the information that if he can play for his IPL team, then he should be kept in the Indian team,” Sehwag also stated.

“If he got injured, they could have called in a replacement for him. But he was not kept in India’s squad, this I don’t understand. This is a strange year. Now, what you will do? He played this game against SRH. He will play the playoffs games. He is saying I am fit. Then why didn’t you pick him,” Sehwag further questioned.

However, the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly did give a little assurance on Rohit Sharma's return while he also reasserted what the selection committee and Ravi Shastri had said.

Coming back to what Sehwag said, he also opined that he was disappointed with the BCCI and the selector’s points of view. “This feels very bad if this is a mismanagement. Rohit Sharma and the Indian team have crores of fans and they all were thinking that why Rohit was dropped? Has he suffered such a serious injury that he will not be able to play for 2-3 more months? I am quite disappointed with the BCCI and the selector’s points of view. They could have kept him in the team – and could have added an extra replacement in his place,” Sehwag added.

If all goes well it will be interesting to see Rohit Sharma representing Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2020 playoffs and Australia tour.