"Maybe Rohit Sharma isn't 'fit' enough to make it to Virat Kohli's Indian side," opines Michael Vaughan

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New Delhi, Nov 4: The issue of India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma not getting picked up for the upcoming tour of Australia is not going to subside. The senior cricketer - who suffered a hamstring injury during an IPL 2020 match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab last month - wasn't included in any of the squads.

Due to the injury, Rohit - the captain of defending champions Mumbai Indians - missed four IPL matches. The selectors last week announced India's squad for the full-fledged tour Down Under but Rohit's name was missing from the ODI, T20I and Test squad. What surprised many was the fact that Rohit's IPL franchise Mumbai Indians posted his practice video hours after Team India was announced.

Several former cricketers and experts called the BCCI for transparency on the matter. While others questioned if Rohit is giving preference to IPL than international cricket.

"It's intriguing that Rohit Sharma, the most accomplished batsman of Team India, who was only a few days ago declared unfit to tour Australia by the Indian team's physio (Nitin Patel) and hence not selected for the trip, is playing and leading MI in the IPL," former India cricketer and ex-chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar was quoted by The Times of India as saying.

"Now, the question here is, is the IPL more important to him than playing for India? Is the club more important than playing for the nation for him? Will the BCCI take a call on this? Or is it that the BCCI physio faltered in diagnosing Rohit's injury correctly," Vengsarkar further said.

Meanwhile, former England cricketer Michael Vaughan opined that Rohit's poor fitness could be one of the reasons why the Mumbaikar failed to get a spot in Virat Kohli's team. Rohit seemed to have gained a lot of weight during the lockdown and the cricketer was even criticised on social media after the IPL 2020 opener between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.

Speaking on Cricbuzz Vaughan said, "From Ravi Shastri's statement, it reads to me that they want him to get more conditioned in the body. Maybe he's not quite as fit. We know the kind of bus Virat Kohli drives is a very fit one. If you are not part of the fit bus, you kind of get moved aside, does not matter who you are. That's the matter, maybe he is not as fit as he could be."

The former English captain went on to add that the Indian team management should be clear about the situation and explain why Rohit was not included in the squad.

"If Rohit Sharma has got an injury, tell us what the injury is. Make it very clear, that look he's got a hamstring problem. Fine, not a problem, we understand that is why he is not playing. If it is just that because he is not playing because he might get injured, I have never heard that before in my life," Vaughan said.

"I have never heard that in a cricket team. A batsman is not playing because he might get injured. I have seen it with bowlers, like in football, a player might reach a stage where they have played so much that injury is minutes away - I have seen that with bowlers. I have never heard the same with a batsman."

"I am intrigued about the next week or so - how it plays with Rohit Sharma, if he does play, then surely he is going to Australia. I can't see why he would not go to Australia if he is playing in the IPL."

Rohit played MI's last league match in the IPL 2020 against Sunrisers Hyderabad which the defending champions lost by 10 wickets.

Vaughan also complained that the entire matter wasn't managed properly by Ravi Shastri & Co.

"I am intrigued about the way it's been handled. It's very odd and strange that it's not open and honest. It seems like it doesn't need to be the way it is. It's Rohit Sharma - if he's injured, tell us he's injured. That's not a problem - players do get injured," he said.