Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's Exclusion From Duleep Trophy 'Hurt Indian Cricket'? Ex Batter Calls Out 'Special Treatment'

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had a subdued outing with the bat against Bangladesh as India steamrolled over their opponents in Chennai to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Even without runs from two of their most experienced batters, India prevailed by 280 runs after Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and hometown favorite Ravichandran Ashwin all shone brightly.Former Indian batter turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has called out BCCI for their 'special treatment' to the duo of Rohit, and Virat after they were exempted from playing in the Duleep Trophy 2024.Overall the Indian captain managed to score just 11 runs in the match, whereas Kohli could only score 21 runs. Both of them didn't participate in the Duleep Trophy, unlike the other stalwarts of the side. Manjrekar said that the 'treatment' of Virat and Rohit could 'hurt' other players as he added how things could have panned out differently if they had played in the domestic competition. "I'm not worried, but I'm sure somebody made a note of the fact that they would have been better off had they played some red-ball cricket. There was the option of picking them in the Duleep Trophy," Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo. "So one has to be careful about treating certain players differently and do what's best for Indian cricket and for the player. Virat and Rohit not playing (Duleep Trophy) was not good for Indian cricket, nor was it good for the two players. Had they played the Duleep Trophy and had some time in the red-ball cricket, things would have been different," the veteran added. Manjrekar stated further that the duo have ample experience and talent to turn things around and respond strongly in the second Test in Kanpur however, the special treatment given to certain players does tend to hurt certain players said the two-time Asia Cup winner.