Despite his statistics were not impressive, Rohit Sharma was a significant inclusion in India’s World Cup strategy, as disclosed by ex-BCCI selector Raja Venkat. At 24, Rohit Sharma, excluded from India’s 2011 World Cup, could scarcely imagine captaining the team twelve years later for the tournament’s significant return to India.
In his first four years of ODIs, Rohit’s display was fairly ordinary; leading up to the World Cup, he garnered only 1248 runs from 57 innings, maintaining an average of just a bit over 21. In 2009, a shoulder injury sidelined Rohit for six months. Although he recuperated before the World Cup, his performance fell short of expectations. Consequently, the Indian team chose to groom Virat Kohli as their No. 4, a decision that turned out to be successful.
While India clinched the coveted trophy, Rohit Sharma, on the sidelines, dealt with disappointment and refrained from watching any of the World Cup matches.
Rohit Sharma was dropped from India’s 2011 World Cup squad
Certainly, destiny took a turn for Rohit in 2013 when MS Dhoni chose him to open for India. However, hardly anyone would have known that despite his less impressive statistics, Rohit was on the radar for India’s World Cup strategies before the tournament. Raja Venkat, a member of the BCCI selection panel led by Kris Srikkanth in 2011, revealed a surprising fact where he said that Gary Kirsten supported having Rohit on the team, but Dhoni’s perspective led the former India coach to alter his decision.
“When we sat to select the team, Rohit was very much in the scheme of things. Yashpal Sharma and I were in South Africa at that time because India was touring South Africa, and the other three selectors – Srikkanth, [Surendra] Bhave and [Narendra] Hirwani – were in Chennai.”
“So, when we were selecting the team, numbers 1-14, every name was accepted by the panel. No. 15, we suggested the name of Rohit Sharma. Gary Kirsten also felt it was a perfect selection. But the captain wanted Piyush Chawla. So immediately, Kirsten somersaulted. He said: ‘I think that’s a better choice.’ So, that is how Rohit Sharma got left out,” Venkat shared with RevSportz during a conversation.
Venkat, who was joined by Surendra Bhave, Narendra Hirwani, and Srikkanth as fellow selectors, also disclosed that the choice to exclude Rohit in favour of Chawla was a unanimous decision. Regrettably, they weren’t able to communicate this decision to the dropped Indian batsman.
“We didn’t get a chance to talk to him, but again we were also disappointed that we couldn’t select him. But when the captain and coach wanted Piyush as the 15th member, we all accepted it. Initially we had selected the 15 which we all felt was the right one. Unfortunately, we had to make one change, and we had to give it to the captain and the coach,” Venkat again said.
Fate had its way, and by the time the 2015 World Cup arrived, Rohit Sharma had transformed into a game-changer. He played a crucial role in India’s journey to the semifinals, amassing 330 runs across 8 ODIs. And in the 2019 World Cup in England, he etched his name in history. Not only did he top the scoring charts with 648 runs, but he also shattered Kumar Sangakkara’s record for the most centuries in a single World Cup edition by hitting five centuries.
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