Before withdrawing from participating in Duleep Trophy, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma gave 'excuse' to Agarkar

Team India's poor performance in the 3-match Test series against New Zealand has raised many questions on the preparation of the players. Before preparing for the New Zealand tour, India defeated Bangladesh comprehensively in the 2-match Test series. At the same time, as part of the preparations for the Bangladesh and New Zealand series, there were suggestions for the participation of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah in the Duleep Trophy. But, none of the four participated in the domestic competition, disappointing some experts.

After India's 0-3 series loss against the Kiwis, several former cricketers have suggested that lack of match practice is one of the biggest reasons behind the embarrassing result. Now, a report suggests that the foursome of Kohli, Rohit, Ashwin and Bumrah had agreed to play in the Duleep Trophy, but later withdrew their interest.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the selectors had made all arrangements for the quartet's participation in the Duleep Trophy, which was held in Bengaluru and Anantapur between September 5 and 22, but they pulled out citing “lack of motivation”. Hue withdrew his name.

“Definitely he should have got some practice. It's a long gap. I know we have beaten Bangladesh and so, it felt like that against New Zealand,” former India captain Sunil Gavaskar told the newspaper on Sunday. it will be easy.” He further added, “But New Zealand obviously had the better attack, with cricketers who have played in India and the IPL, who know what Indian pitches do.”

The report further claims that the selectors had dropped Ravindra Jadeja from the Duleep Trophy campaign following the withdrawal of Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah and Ashwin.

Among India's stars who featured in the Test series against the Kiwis, players like Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Washington Sundar were part of the domestic tournament.

While Jadeja managed to make an impact in the game by taking 10 wickets in the Mumbai Test (in two innings), players like Rohit, Kohli and Ashwin looked weak. On the other hand, the spin-friendly track was of little help to Bumrah.