Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s inclusion for the T20Is against Afghanistan is a fair indication that the duo will play the World Cup in June though the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is staying non-committal.

The Board has maintained that the first half of the IPL will serve as selection trial for the tournament in the West Indies and USA which begins on June 1. The provisional squads have to be announced a month earlier.

Rohit was almost an automatic choice as captain following his explosive starts in the ODI World Cup at home. The fact that Hardik Pandya has been injury-prone also tilted the scales in Rohit’s favour.

The Team India captain had made it clear to the selection committee that he was interested in playing the format during the meeting to pick the South Africa-bound squad.

The Ajit Agarkar-led committee had their reservations about Kohli considering his below-par strike-rate in T20s. But Kohli’s blazing form in the 50-over format forced the selectors to give him another chance.

Both Rohit and Kohli have not played T20Is since the semi-final defeat to England in the last World Cup in Australia. The fearless performance of the young brigade since November 2022 had prompted the selectors to think differently, but eventually they decided to go in with experience.

Virat Kohli. File photo

Sources told The Telegraph that the selectors couldn’t arrive at a decision and needed a prompt from the Board before announcing the squad. However, both the stars have to meet the demands of the format during the matches against Afghanistan and the initial phase of the IPL to seal their berths.

There’s a possibility that Kohli could open the innings with Rohit to allow the former to settle down while Shubman Gill or Suryakumar Yadav could follow at No.3.

There’s also a school of thought that Rohit and Kohli are important from the branding and marketing perspectives of the game in the US. The ICC will be keen for their participation since the world body is on a mission to expand the game in that zone.

Pandya had been India’s designated captain in the T20Is since the last World Cup while Surya led in his absence. Both are nursing injuries and will miss out on the forthcoming series.

Ishan Kishan has opted out, citing the need for a break to help him refocus on his game.

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have been rested as part of workload management ahead of the five-Test series against England. Also missing are Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja.

Gill, Surya, Rinku Singh and Pandya are almost certainties for the World Cup. KL Rahul has to wait since the selectors are looking at a finisher in the lower order. Jitesh Sharma or Sanju Samson perfectly fits that slot.

India could again have to risk a long tail since Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi are the preferred bowlers. The batting has to be strong and consistent in such circumstances since the selectors don’t have too many options.