IPL performances shouldn’t be counted for World Cup selection, says Rohit Sharma

Virat Kohli had earlier stated that the Indian Premier League doesn’t have any bearing to how the teams are going to be stacked up for the upcoming World Cup and the past performances are sufficient for the selection committee to form the 15-man team. Rohit Sharma’s opinion on the subject is no different either as he said that IPL doesn’t have any bearing on the team formation.

“With their inputs, the selectors will keep an eye on what is happening with those guys in IPL although I feel it should not be the criteria for team selection,” he said at a launch event in Mumbai on Thursday, reported Scroll.

“They have played enough international matches to see where each individual stands. You can’t select a team for the 50-over format from a 20-over event, it’s my personal opinion. IPL is a different ball game. It’s franchise cricket and yes, form matters a lot. In the last four years we have played enough One Day International matches, enough T20 cricket. That should be enough for guys to understand these are the players that we want.”

While there have been opinions that the Indian Premier League will have a negative bearing on the players’ world cup preparations, it can also be argued that it helps the players to stay in touch with the game while making them efficient enough to understand their own lacunae and strengths. Rohit is definitely a part of the latter association and he clubbed Jasprit Bumrah in it.

“Every time we play IPL, there is some big event right after — a big Test series or big one-day series. It does help also. 35-plus or 40 guys will probably need some rest. I was talking to Jasprit (Bumrah) the other day. He needs to play a lot of matches and bowl a lot to be match fit than be at home. I also, as a batter, need to play,” Rohit said.

Rohit has also added that most of the spots in the team are pretty much settled, and depending on the situation, the team management will have a look and finalise the playing XI.

“I think we are pretty much settled. A few spots are there which everyone knows about. It all depends on what captain, coach and selectors think about the combination, whether we need to go with an extra middle order batsman, extra opener, extra seamer or spinner. Conditions in England will matter a lot,” he said.

“I know how it works with the captain. The preference of the captain is very important in terms of that extra player he wants in the squad. I think Virat and (Indian team’s head coach) Ravi shastri have to decide what exactly the combination that they want or what extra player or where is that extra cushion they are looking for. That is something that will matter the most.”