Rohit Sharma

While Kohli was a member of the 2011 squad which won the World Cup on home soil, Rohit didn't feature in that tournament and was the leading run-getter in the 2019 ODI World Cup. Both Kohli and Rohit will be seen in 50-over action during India's upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, starting from January 10 in Guwahati.

Rohit, who injured his thumb on the Bangladesh tour, will return to lead the Indian team in ODI series against Sri Lanka. "The All-India Senior Selection Committee has picked national squads for the upcoming Sri Lanka Tour of India to be held in January 2023. The tour comprises three T20Is and as many ODIs," the BCCI said in a statement on Tuesday.

With Rohit not traveling to Dhaka, vice-captain KL Rahul will continue to lead India in the second and final Test of the series which India is currently leading by 1-0, after winning the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram by 188 runs. The report says news of Rohit's unavailability emerged on Monday (December 19) after it was found that the skipper's thumb has not fully healed and is suffering from a little bit of stiffness.

Rohit had injured his left thumb while fielding in the second ODI against Bangladesh at Dhaka and had to fly back home to Mumbai to see a specialist, causing him to miss the third ODI and first Test. In his absence, Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran was named as a replacement in the Indian squad for the first Test. "About Rohit, I think we will get to know in the next day or two. I am not even aware of it. The focus was completely on the Test match," said KL Rahul in the post-match press conference.

As India, hit by multiple injuries of late including to captain Rohit Sharma, aim to play aggressive cricket, as said by stand-in skipper K.L. Rahul, against Bangladesh in the Test series opener at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, the race to make it to the WTC final for them also returns in a phase where Test cricket is happening from the sub-continent to the southern hemisphere.

Abhimanyu is a classical batsman who plays for Bengal in the domestic circuit and has been knocking on the selectors' door for the last couple of seasons and has been named as standby for a couple of series.

So, skipper Rohit Sharma and chief coach Rahul Dravid have to shoulder a lot of blame for the Indian team facing the peril of further debacles in the build-up to the 50-over World Cup following its recent debacles in white-ball cricket in the last couple of months.

Australia will go into the second Test against West Indies at Adelaide on Thursday without skipper Pat Cummins and pacer Josh Hazlewood while West Indies too are expecting a few players unavailable for selection. India will play the inconsequential third and final One-day International against Bangladesh without the injured skipper Rohit Sharma, who hurt his thumb in the second ODI, and will fly to Mumbai to consult an expert.

Rohit's tally of 500 international sixes is bettered by only West Indies legend Chris Gayle, who has 533 sixes. No other Indian batter has more than 400 sixes. MS Dhoni with 359 sixes is the closest to Rohit among Indian players. The likes of Shahid Afridi (476), Brendon McCullum (398), Martin Guptill (383) are the third, fourth and fifth place respectively in the list of most number of six hitters in international cricket

The skipper copped an injury to his finger in the second over of Bangladesh's batting innings while attempting a catch. The ball hit his thumb and he was seen bleeding as he walked off. He didn't come out to open the innings as well, with Virat Kohli replacing him as Shikhar Dhawan's partner at the top.