Former Indian player not happy with Rohit Sharma taking break during South Africa series

India will host South Africa for the five-match T20I series from June 9. The hosts will be without their first-choice players as they will be preparing for England tour. The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and many others have been rested after a gruelling Indian T20 League 2022. The team will be led by KL Rahul, who has been the vice-captain to Sharma after the latter became the full-time skipper last year.

Meanwhile, former India left-arm medium-pacer R.P Singh opines that the 35-year-old could have played the series. He cited that the "Hitman" is the skipper of the team while acknowledging that taking a rest is a player's call. The former left-arm bowler also pointed out that resting depends on how much fatigue a player is experiencing.

“I think he should have played the series. Taking a rest or not is his thought. It depends on how much fatigue he is experiencing. But I don’t think there was a need for a break. He should have played. It’s a long series and, remember, he is the captain as well,” Singh was quoted as saying by India TV.

The Uttar Pradesh player added how Sharma was below-par in the 15th season as well. For the unversed, he couldn't score a fifty in the entire season. The right-hander only scored 268 runs in 14 games at an average of 19.14. Singh believes that a T20 team needs match-winners who can fire at least one or two games.

“In the Indian T20 League, Rohit hasn’t scored over 400 runs in the last few seasons. There are many others who have crossed the 400-run mark. His performances have been inconsistent in the tournament, but he used to come up with a couple of match-winning knocks.

“So everyone felt the spark in his batting was there. In the shortest format, you need match-winners. Even if they fire in a couple of matches, the team will win those,” the former Indian pacer added.