Rohit Sharma’s assurance to super-subs paying off | Cricket News – Times of India

Around two weeks back, when Rohit Sharma was asked about a batter of Shreyas Iyer’s calibre warming the bench at the Eden Gardens, he admitted it was very hard on the fellow Mumbaikar not making it to the playing XI.
The new all-format skipper, however, made sure that the 27-year-old got a look-in as soon as BCCI decided to give Team India regulars Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant a break from the tough bio-bubble and rest them for the T20 leg of the series against Sri Lanka. Also, the absence of KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar provided Rohit the perfect opportunity to try out the fringe players.

On Sunday, after completing a 3-0 whitewash of the islanders, Rohit stood behind the super-subs with an assurance that they shouldn’t feel threatened about their spots in the playing eleven.
“We do understand at times that we’ve held back but it’s important to tell the guys that you don’t have to worry about your positions in the team. We want to fill whatever gaps we do have. We just want to move forward,” Rohit said.

Even the players who weren’t preferred for white ball cricket for quite some time were given a chance to prove themselves after Rohit took over, and that’s been the hallmark of his captaincy.

The re-introduction of wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who were deemed unproductive during the last T20 WC, is one step in that direction. This also indicates that the new captain wants one of them on the flight to Australia, where wrist spin can prove handy.
“That is something we’ve kept in mind good to give opportunities to few of those guys. If the guys take the opportunity the way some of these guys have taken, you can move from strength to strength. It’s going to be a big challenge but it’s always nice to have guys in form rather than not in form,” he stressed.