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India vs Australia 1st ODI 2020: Virat Kohli Admits Lack of Confusion And Clarity Over Rohit Sharma’s Injury, Questions ICC’s WTC Points System

Kohli also questioned the ICC for altering the points system of the inaugural World Test Championship, saying the change is "confusing" and the governing body has a lot to explain.

India captain Virat Kohli on Thursday said there has been confusion and lack of information on the status of Rohit Sharma’s injury, asserting that he has no idea why his white-ball deputy did not travel with the team to Australia. Answering media queries online ahead of the ODI series against Australia starting on Friday, Kohli said Rohit was said to be unavailable before the selection committee meeting earlier this month.

“Before the selection meeting, we got a mail that he is unavailable, that he has picked up an injury during the IPL. It said that the pros and cons of the injury were explained to him and he understood and he was unavailable,” Kohli said.

Rohit, who is nursing a hamstring injury is doing is rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and is still three weeks away from full match fitness but a 14-day quarantine (without training) would rule him out of the Test series.

“After that, he played in the IPL and we all thought he would be on that flight to Australia and we had no information on why he is not travelling with us. There has been no information, there has been lack of clarity,” Kohli said.

“We have been playing the waiting game,” he added.

Kohli also questioned the ICC for altering the points system of the inaugural World Test Championship – WTC, saying the change is “confusing” and the governing body has a lot to explain.

India slipped to the second position in the standings of the ongoing World Test Championship after the ICC last week decided to rank teams “in order of percentage of points earned” from the contested matches.

Australia (296 points from 3 series) toppled India (360 points from 4 series) in the standings after the revision with a percentage of 82.22 compared to the latter’s 75 percent.

A livid Kohli said the decision is “surprising” and “difficult” to comprehend.

“It is definitely surprising because we were told that points are a matter of contention for the top two teams qualifying in World Test championships and now suddenly it has become percentage out of nowhere, so it is confusing and difficult to understand why,” Kohli said during a video conference ahead of the first ODI against Australia.

“… if these things were explained to us from day one then it would have been easier to understand the reason why such a change has happened.

“But it happened out of nowhere and I think further questions need to be asked to the ICC to understand why this has been done and what are the reasons behind it.”

With the raging COVID-19 pandemic leading to the cancellation of several bilateral series, the ICC said “just under half of the World Test Championship matches have been played, with that estimated to rise to more than 85 per cent by the end of the competition window.”

According to current regulations, incomplete matches are treated as draw but after due deliberation, the ICC Cricket Committee, headed by Anil Kumble, recommended that the final WTC standings should be determined on the basis of matches played, which was approved by the Board.

With India scheduled to play four Tests in Australia and then host England for five Tests, the results of the two series will decide the finalists of the inaugural WTC. The final is scheduled at Lord’s in England in June 2021.

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