Team India has announced Rohit Sharma as their vice-captain for the remaining two tests. It is the second time team management has changed the vice-captain in the ongoing series which is at 1-1. Virat Kohli left for India to have paternity leaves after the first match at Adelaide. Ajinkya Rahane, who was the deputy to Kolhi, has been named as the captain and Cheteshwar Pujar has bagged the vice-captain role.
The game quickly changes when Rohit Sharma joins the Indian Cricket Team after the completion of isolation. Rohit Sharma is named as the deputy to Rahane, replacing Pujara.
There is no doubt about the game reading skills of Rohit Sharma, who has numerous accolades under his name as a skipper. But this is a regressive demeanor from Team management as they undermined the ace batsman, Pujara. Pujara has been an integral part of the Test team for a while and has delivered for the team. He has not performed significantly in this series yet, which can’t certainly be a reason for his sudden demotion.
In the post-Dravid era, Pujara has been standing tall as the wall against the best bowling line-ups of the World. It’s the same Cheteshwar Pujara who stood rock solid against the Aussie bowling in the last tour, scoring 521 runs in 7 innings.
Rohit Sharma, injured during Indian Premier League 2020, returned to the team after a long break, missing the T20 and ODI series. Even chief selector MSK Prasad was skeptical about his inclusion in the final eleven. Now he has been named the vice-captain, which ascertains the fact that he will be playing in the remaining tests.
Favoritism angle comes in
Favoritism has been one of the biggest worries in Indian society. The most popular gets all the accolades whereas the less popular is shown the doors. Pujara has been tagged as a Test match player which opts him out of the Indian Premier League and ODI team. He hasn’t attracted a lot of brands for their brand promotions which indicates his zero PR. In this era of corporatization, PR plays the most crucial role, undermining the talent or skills. Pujara stands no chance against Rohit in the PR game.
This is not the only example of favoritism in Team India, several others are there. Natarajan, the latest inclusion in the pace department, was not permitted to visit his newborn, whereas Kohli was let go of. Wridhiman Saha is probably the poster boy of negligence as he keeps getting replaced upon one bad performance. He is the best wicket-keeper in the world right now, according to greats like Adam Gilchrist and Kumar Sangakkara. Nevertheless, he finds himself under the scanner for each innings he plays. Saha has been brilliant in this IPL, played a crucial role for Hyderabad to reach for the Semis. Well, not enough for the selectors. Had he been endorsing a brand like his peers, he might have found a permanent seat in the team bus, supposedly.
Favoritism shatters dreams, breaks confidence, causing premature extinction of talents.
