'Suddenly everyone has woken up': Ex-India star slams BCCI for poor planning after Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma’s Test retirement

With the announcement of the squad for the upcoming five-Test series against England, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has put to rest weeks of speculation regarding Rohit Sharma's replacement in Test cricket and the overall composition of the Indian Test team. The recent retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, just one month before the series was set to commence, came as a shock to Indian cricket fans. Their departures have left a significant void in the team, not only in terms of experience and leadership but also in run production.

However, the BCCI and head coach Gautam Gambhir faced criticism from Kiran More, the former chairman of selectors who expressed concern over their inability to anticipate the eventual retirements of these two former captains. Despite both players experiencing prolonged periods of underperformance in the longest format, More questioned the lack of a contingency plan to address their potential exits.

Throughout the previous home season, both Rohit and Kohli struggled to convert promising starts into substantial scores, failing to be consistent contributors. Even during the recent tour of Australia, where Kohli began the series with a century, his form quickly deteriorated, culminating in a disappointing total of just 190 runs across 10 innings.

“First thing, I'm surprised. The whole selection committee and coach should've thought about this, that this (transition) was going to come,” More told Follow the Blues on JioHotstar. “Now, suddenly, everybody has woken up and now they're asking who should be the next captain. They should've been prepared. I feel we haven't prepared for 1.5 years, this is a big wake up call for us.”

In addition, More voiced his concerns about Shubman Gill stepping in as Rohit's successor for the Test captaincy, suggesting that it might put too much pressure on the young player. Instead, More decided to back Rahul, emphasizing the importance of experience over youth.

“For me, Shubman Gill is a great player. But I wouldn't like to put pressure on it. I would like to go with KL Rahul. Shubman hasn't done that well in Test cricket, I would want Gill to be captain of one-day format first,” said More.

Indian Squad For England Tour: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rishabh Pant (Vice-Captain & Wicketkeeper), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (Wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav

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