As India suffered a bitter defeat to arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening game on Sunda in Dubai, the Indian skipper was expectedly bombarded with questions left, right and centre from journalists of both India and Pakistan. Virat Kohli brushed aside a question from a journalist regarding dropping Rohit Sharma in favour of Ishan Kishan.
Rohit being a senior member of the side and easily one of the world’s best players, Kohli didn’t find the question too pleasing and the moment the journalist finished his sentence, the Indian skipper wore a look of disbelief and shock on his face.
To the journalists’ question, Kohli threw a follow-up question and said: “
That’s a very brave question. What do you think, sir? I played the team that I thought was the best. What is your opinion?”
“Will you drop Rohit Sharma from T20 internationals? Will you drop Rohit Sharma? Do you know what he did in the last game we played?”
“Unbelievable (laughs). Sir, if you want controversy, please tell me before so I can answer accordingly,”
Given Rohit’s stature within the team and the world batting order, the question from the journalist was obviously influenced by his on-the-day dismissal. It could’ve easily angered any skipper, but Kohli maintained admirable calm and let his expressions and laugh tell the whole story.
Sharma missed India’s first warm-up game against England on Monday but came back and produced a fantastic unbeaten knock of 60 off 41 in the second warm-up fixture versus Australia on Wednesday.
The Indian vice-captain and elegant opener has scored 2,864 runs from his 112 T20Is with an average of 32.17 and strike-rate of 138.89.
