5 Players who didn't get enough chances under Rohit Sharma

In 2022, one of India's most successful openers, Rohit Sharma, assumed the full-time skipper of the Indian cricket team. Rohit, who has led India in several formats and series, is renowned for his calm leadership and keen cricketing intellect. 

Nevertheless, despite their impressive accomplishments, several gifted players were left out, as is the case with all leadership positions, either because of changes in format, squad combinations, or personal preferences. Let's examine five such players who, under Rohit Sharma's leadership, may not have had the opportunities they were due.

1. Hanuma Vihari

In the 2021 Border-Gavaskar series in Sydney, Hanuma Vihari's tough match-saving knock was one of his crucial innings for India in Test cricket. However, Vihari has mostly vanished from the limelight since Rohit Sharma took over as Test captain. 

Shubman Gill's ascent and the need for a more aggressive middle order appear to have made Vihari's steady, conventional batting approach less popular. He has a reputation as a reliable Test player abroad and has performed consistently at home, but he has not been given a regular run, which raises concerns about selection priorities in the longer format.

2. Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur, the "Lord" of Indian Twitter and a true all-around choice, has frequently been India's go-to man in dire circumstances, particularly during overseas Test matches. Shardul, however, has been selected sporadically under Rohit Sharma, particularly in white-ball games. 

Despite his demonstrated ability to take wickets and his valuable batsmanship, he has frequently been replaced by more specialised bowlers. Given India's need for pace-bowling all-rounders, his ability to alter the outcome of a match with both bat and ball has not been properly utilised.

3. Sanju Samson

India's skill pool has been led by Sanju Samson in the white-ball format. Samson's batting and wicketkeeping abilities are dynamic, combining flair and ferocity. Even though Samson made his debut in 2015, his international career has been erratic. Samson has seldom ever had a steady run of games under Rohit Sharma. 

He was frequently omitted from the following series, even when he was playing well in the IPL or making occasional appearances abroad. Many supporters and experts think Samson should have had a more permanent role as India experimented with T20Is and ODIs, particularly with Rishabh Pant recuperating and KL Rahul getting hurt all the time.

4. Yuzvendra Chahal

Under Rohit Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, who was formerly India's top spinner in white-ball cricket, has been in and out of the team. Chahal was controversially left out of the T20 World Cup 2022 playing XI and was mainly ignored afterwards in favour of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja, despite his outstanding record and ability to take wickets in the middle overs. 

Even though Chahal is one of India's leading wicket-takers in Twenty20 Internationals, his chances have been harmed by Rohit's frequent preference for spin-bowling all-rounders. Many think that throughout Rohit's reign, the leg-spinner's match-winning skills were not fully utilised.

5. Shikhar Dhawan

Under Rohit Sharma's guidance, Shikhar Dhawan, one of India's most successful ODI openers, was abruptly benched. Dhawan was dropped after 2022, even though he averaged over 40 in ODIs and performed reliably as a senior member. Instead, the management and selectors chose to put their money into younger players like Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan. 

Even though the decision might have been made with long-term planning in mind, Dhawan's contributions and physical condition didn't warrant such a sudden withdrawal, particularly considering his composed leadership and ICC tournament experience.

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