Rohit Sharma on Thursday backed India skipper Virat Kohli’s call of not treating the Indian Premier League (IPL) as a platform for World Cup selection saying that a squad for a 50-over tournament should not be based on how one performs in the shortest format.
“I feel IPL shouldn’t be the criterion for (World Cup) team selection. We’ve played enough international matches…. You can’t select a 50-over format (team) with (performances in) T20 format. That’s my personal opinion,” Sharma said at the launch of a cricket website. “I think we are pretty much settled. There are a few spots (which are yet to be decided) but that depends on what the captain, coach and selectors think about the combination. You have to understand that it’s not possible to predict the weather conditions and they’ll have to select a side accordingly.”
Nearly a month back, Kohli had said he didn’t see how the IPL would affect the selection to the World Cup. “I don’t see IPL having any influence on World Cup selection,” Kohli had said before the start of the five-match series against Australia – the team’s last international assignment. “I think that will be a very radical sort of analysis. We need to have a solid team. Before we head into the IPL, we need be absolutely clear of what team we want for the World Cup.”
Sharma, who was present at the venue along with Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen, Mahela Jayawardene and Smriti Mandhana, further went on to add that he wasn’t too bothered with the side not playing international games before the World Cup.
“We’ve all been to ICC tournaments, (after) playing the IPL. Every time you’re playing the IPL there’s a big tournament right after. Most of the guys are used to it. I was speaking to Jasprit (Bumrah) the other day and he feels he should bowl a lot of balls, play a lot of matches to be in that shape and form. For me, I would like to have some runs under the belt, keep hitting those balls,” he added.
