'Do not find any direction for India': Deep Dasgupta not convinced with Rohit and Kohli's return to T20Is

Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta was surprised by the inclusion of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in India’s T20I side for the series against Afghanistan. The duo had been absent from T20Is since India’s disappointing 10-wicket loss in the 2022 World Cup semi-final against England. In a conversation with Star Sports, Dasgupta said that India seemed to be going back to Rohit and Kohli has rendered the strategic moves and inclusions of the past year invalid.

“I was slightly surprised because I thought the team had moved on from Rohit and Kohli. To be very honest, I do not find any direction here for India in the last one year. If they had to go back to Kohli and Rohit…given the squads we had in the last one year, it is like going back to square one,” said Dasgupta.

Dasgupta also went on to state that India’s playing XI might mirror the team that suffered a comprehensive defeat to England in the previous T20 World Cup.

With the return of Rohit and Kohli, Dasgupta also speculated that players like Rinku Singh might miss out on securing a spot in the playing XI at the T20 World Cup. Despite Rinku’s impressive start to his international career, Dasgupta said that with the return of Suryakumar Yadav and Pandya, the left-hander would miss out.

“Someone like Rinku Singh will miss out. You have to pick one between Jitesh and Samson. I am talking about the T20 World Cup going forward. Rinku and Yashasvi had both impressed a lot, especially the former, because he plays a very specific and unique role and there aren’t much competitors for that spot as well,” Dasgupta added.

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Since making his debut against Ireland in August last year, Rinku has been impressive and has embraced the finisher’s role quite comfortably. The series against Afghanistan will be India’s last assignment in the shortest format of the game ahead of the T20 World Cup scheduled to take place later this year in the West Indies and the USA.