“Apparent Who Has Hunger”: Rohit Sharma’s Blunt Answer On IPL vs Test Debate After England Win

The Indian cricket team sealed yet another Test series at home with a five-wicket win over England in Ranchi on Monday. The win was all the more special as the Rohit Sharma-led side was playing without some superstars. Virat Kohli is not playing in this series because of personal reasons while Jasprit Bumrah was rested from the fourth Test as part of workload management. Then, Mohammed Shami is out of the series due to injury. However, what made maximum noise in the buildup to the series was the absence of some youngsters. While they are on a ‘break’ due to various, it has raised a lot of eyebrows.

India cricket team captain Rohit Sharma laid out some clear cut guidelines about the Test aspirants after sealing the series against England.

Asked if the cash-rich league is affecting the drive for Test cricket among young players, Rohit said, “Test cricket is the toughest format. If you want to excel and achieve success in this format, you have to show the hunger.”

Without naming anyone, Rohit pointed out the stringent selection criteria set by the team management.

“Yeh pata chal jata hai kisko bhookh nahin hai aur kin logon ko yahan pe rehna nahin hai. Yeh pata chalta hai. Jo logon ko bhookh hai, tough conditions mein khelna hai, un logon ko preference diya jayega. (It becomes apparent who is not hungry and who does not want to stay here. Those who are hungry, who want to play in tough conditions, will be given preference). It’s very simple,” he emphasised.

“IPL is a very good format for us, but this is the toughest format and difficult to excel. You have to work hard to win…the last three wins didn’t come easy, bowlers had to do long spell, batsmen had to grind it out. It’s tough,” he explained.

His comments came close on the heels of a BCCI diktat asking players like Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer to turn up for Ranji Trophy matches, a missive that was ignored by the duo. The 25-year-old Kishan skipped the Ranji Trophy for his state Jharkhand, but was spotted in Baroda, training with Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya for the IPL scheduled next month.

Rohit further hailed the youngsters’ performance particularly that of Jaiswal, who has scored two double hundreds so far, and wicketkeeper-batter Jurel, whose efforts in both the innings proved match-winning for India here.

“To adapt to the style of our play, these guys have come with an open mind and are ready to put their hands up and do it. That is the kind of guys we need in our squad. Basically putting the team before individual,” he said.

“Moving forward, it’s a big plus for us. They showed they belong here, they have ability, skills to excel in this format. a lot of these guys are quite young, you will see these guys playing quite regularly in this format in the coming 5-10 years for sure,” he added.