Rohit and Kohli's inclusion for India-Afghanistan T20Is leaves netizens divided

Team India ended the suspense surrounding their team for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan, including both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the 16-man squad that was announced on Sunday evening. Rohit, who returns to T20Is as skipper, and Kohli have not represented India in the shortest format since the semi-finals of of the 2022 T20 World Cup, in which the Men in Blue had been handed a sound thrashing by eventual winners England.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has led the Indian team in T20Is for the most part since November 2022, misses out on the upcoming series as he is yet to recover from an ankle injury that he suffered in the ICC World Cup match against Bangladesh. Also joining the injury list are Suryakumar Yadav (ankle) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (finger). SKY had led India in the T20I assignments against Australia and South Africa, and suffered the injury during the third T20I against the Proteas in Johannesburg.

Read | Pandya, SKY and Ruturaj miss IND-AFG T20Is due to injury

The Indians decided to reward wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, who made the most of the opportunity handed to him in the ODI series in South Africa with a chance to audition for the T20 World Cup that takes place in the West Indies and USA in June. Additonally, Yuzvendra Chahal continued to miss out with the selectors sticking with Ravi Bishnoi as their leg-spin option alongside left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

The discussion surrounding BCCI’s announcement on Sunday evening has been dominated by Rohit and Kohli’s return to T20Is, making their appearance in this year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States all the more likely.

Here’s how netizens reacted to BCCI’s announcement, with some excited by Rohit and Kohli’s return:

Both GOATS are back for T20IS #ViratKohli #RohitSharma #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/rO0go5Ggpb

— Wasay Habib (@wwasay) January 7, 2024

& are back #ViratKohli #RohitSharma #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/Iy8cSYItrh

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) January 7, 2024

There were quite a few others questioning the BCCI’s decision:

People keep asking why Australia keeps winning titles while India doesn’t. It’s because Cricket Australia isn’t obsessed with star-worshipping and doesn’t make decisions considering marketing value!

— Mohsin Kamal (@64MohsinKamal) January 7, 2024

KL, Rohit, Virat, SKY, Hardik, Pant, Ash, Axar, Bhuvi, Shami and Arsh played T20 WC SF vs Eng in 2022.

Looks like most from that XI will feature in 2024 T20 World Cup squad.

We didn’t learn anything from two horrible T20 World Cups?

Someone needs to take some TOUGH calls!

— Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) January 7, 2024

It’s funny how everything is tried and tested between T20 World Cups and eventually it’s almost the same batting lineup that takes the field.

India should have gone in with a fresh team sans any baggage for the T20 WC imo. Virat’s best spot is as opener but… #INDvAFG

— Soorya Sesha (@sooryasesha7) January 7, 2024

And there were those who chose to take the neutral approach:

I think people are reading this Ind squad selection for the Afg series wrong. Rohit & Virat interested in playing T20? Fine, no favours, here is a chance against Afg to show us how you can contribute to the T20 WC campaign. If you can, great, if you can’t, there are others!

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) January 7, 2024