‘I wish I had that management’ – AB de Villiers bats for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s selection in T20I series against Afghanistan

Rohit Sharma and Virat have been included in the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan after a hiatus of more than a year. Both the giants of Indian cricket last played for India in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia against England in the semi-final. India got thrashed in the semi-final by 10 wickets and afterwards, Virat and Rohit took a backseat in the T20Is and focused on the One-Day format. 

But as both of them were out of the shortest format, Hardik Pandya was made the captain, and talks were that youngsters would be given a chance in this format and India would side a young team for the World Cup but all these went into trash when the Indian selectors picked Virat and Rohit for the Afghanistan series. 

This move garnered mixed reactions from Indian cricket stakeholders. On one hand, where the fans of both the legends were ecstatic with the move, while the critics said that this is a default move for disasters like in the past T20 World Cups.

AB de Villiers takes on the selection of Rohit and Kohli

Amid all these talks South African legend AB de Villiers backed the selector’s move of getting Rohit and Virat back into the T20 squad. In a video on his YouTube channel, AB de Villiers expressed his understanding of the criticism surrounding the selection but emphasized the importance of such seasoned players in a cricket World Cup scenario. 

De Villiers highlighted the necessity of having star players like Kohli and Sharma in the squad, asserting that their experience and world-class quality play a pivotal role on the grand stage of T20 cricket.

On his YouTube channel AB de Villiers said, “I understand (criticism on selection of Rohit and Kohli) but at the end of the day it is a cricket World Cup. If Virat Kohli is good enough, he has to play. I don’t care whether he is managing his career due to age. 20-year-olds will understand that the likes of Rohit and Virat are needed to help India win the T20 World Cup. I wish I had that management when I was 35.”

He further added, “I think it’s a good call from India. They have a good chance of winning the T20 World Cup. You always play your best players.”