• Source:JND
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India vs New Zealand Test Series: Senior players like captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli failed consistently in their roles in India's disastrous show in the recently concluded three-match Test series against New Zealand in which the home side faced defeat in all three games.

In the series, captain Rohit's performance was miserable as he failed to get even a fifty, scoring just 91 runs in six innings, while Kohli was only mustered to gather 93.

Another senior, Ravichandran Ashwin finished the series with nine wickets in three matches while the star pacer Jasprit Bumrah took just three wickets from two matches.

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Despite playing at home, India's batters looked clueless against New Zealand's pace and spin attack. Meanwhile, Indian spinners did trouble the Kiwi batters from time to time but pacers were not even able to dent the Blackcaps' batting charge throughout the series.

Senior players' subpar performances in the series has raised question marks over their future. 

Meanwhile, many former greats of the game and fans believed that the likes of Kohli, Rohit and Ashwin failed to hit the best performance as they opted to miss playing in the Duleep Trophy 2024 as the domestic tournament would have served as an ideal preparatory tournament ahead of the gruelling Test season.

As per a report in Indian Express on Sunday, the national selectors wanted all the senior players to play in the Duleep Trophy at least one match as an ideal preparation, however, the veterans rejected the request.

“The selection committee planned for all top players to be available for the Duleep Trophy in order to provide them some match practice before the red-ball season. Rohit and Kohli, along with other key players, gave their consent initially. However, some of the top players later decided to withdraw their names and went into the two Tests against Bangladesh (in September) and the three against New Zealand without much recent red-ball cricket under their belt," a source told The Indian Express.

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“When Sharma, Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Jasprit Bumrah didn’t participate in the Duleep Trophy, the selection committee decided to release Ravindra Jadeja, who had agreed to play in the domestic tournament," the source added.

Meanwhile, several youngsters like Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, and Washington Sundar, who were a part of the Indian team for the New Zealand Tests, featured in the Duleep Trophy 2024. Jaiswal, Gill, Sarfaraz, and Sundar managed to play at least one fine knock in the series against New Zealand.