Rashid Latif on Virat and Rohit: Former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif claimed that Indian senior pair Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are being targeted for their red-ball form and they are being deprived of important white-ball assignments. Being forced to play domestic cricket first. India’s Test and ODI captain Rohit played for Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir. He scored three and 28 runs in the match. On the other hand, Kohli will join the Delhi team for the match against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium from January 30.

Apart from the star pair, members of the Test team, which suffered a 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia, are also playing for their respective state teams for the latest round of Ranji Trophy matches. Other notable players include Yashasvi Jaiswal (Mumbai), Rishabh Pant (Delhi), Ravindra Jadeja (Saurashtra) and Shubman Gill (Punjab).

According to the former Pakistan wicketkeeper batsman, Rohit and Kohli should focus on the upcoming limited overs series against England and the Champions Trophy to be held in Dubai next month. Latif said that due to the busy international calendar, players do not get much time to play domestic cricket. He said that the star pair has played two World Cup finals in the last two years without playing domestic cricket.

Latif told ‘IANS’, “Players do not have time to play domestic cricket due to the busy international calendar. If needed, they should play domestic cricket, but Rohit (Sharma) and Virat (Kohli) are being targeted.” Because they are forcing everyone to play domestic cricket.

In the past, except Sachin Tendulkar, others have not played much domestic cricket…Rohit and Virat have won the T20 World Cup and reached the finals of the ODI World Cup without playing domestic cricket. They will play the ODI series against England next time, so they should be prepared for it because the limited overs series is a completely different game.”

Rohit and Kohli will be seen in the three-match ODI series against England starting from 6th February. Both teams are currently playing a five-match T20 series, which India started with a spectacular win in the first T20 match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.