India captain Virat Kohli could not believe his ears when he was asked whether experienced opener Rohit Sharma could be dropped for his failure in the team's opening game against Pakistan in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021. (More Cricket News)
India was handed a crushing 10-wicket loss by Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. The defeat ended India's 12-match winning streak against the arch-rivals in World Cups.
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Kohli shook his head furiously at the suggestion before describing it as "unbelievable".
The Indian captain was left wide-eyed and quite taken aback when a question was directed at him on whether wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan merits a place in the side over his white-ball deputy Rohit, who was caught in front for a nought off Shaheen Shah Afridi.
"It's a very brave question. What do you think, sir? I played the team that I thought was the best, what is your opinion?" Kohli responded after shaking his head in disbelief.
"I am just asking you? Will you drop Rohit Sharma from T20 internationals? You will drop Rohit Sharma? You know what he did in the last game we played, unbelievable!" he said referring to the 64-run blistering knock that Rohit played against England in a T20 match earlier this year.
"If you want controversy, please tell me before so that I can answer accordingly," Kohli added with a grin before moving to the next query.
Rohit, who is set to take over India's T20 captaincy after Kohli steps down at the end of the ongoing showpiece, has played over 100 T20Is and has an excellent strike rate of a little over 138.