New Delhi: The lead-up to the election meeting on Tuesday was hectic. As the selectors laid out the roadmap for next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa, they were stumped by an over. Rohit Sharma And Hardik Pandya’s fitness issues. While the two were eventually picked for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan subject to fitness, TOI has learned that BCCI There are fears about his ability to play the 50-over format at the maximum level.It is understood that while the selectors, team management and BCCI are concerned about Hardik’s ability to bowl 10 overs at full tilt, they are more apprehensive about Rohit’s ability to last the distance until the World Cup in October-November next year. The selectors have called for Rohit’s fitness reports as he has not played in the IPL for three weeks due to a hamstring injury. “Rohit did not report to BCCI’s Center of Excellence (CoE) for these three weeks. He has slimmed down but there are concerns about his body being able to handle the load of high-performance sports. He has to field for 50 overs. ODI cricket does not have the impact player option like IPL. When you are nearing 40, the body takes time to recover,” said a BCCI source.“Hardik was not told about the fitness concerns until 48 hours before the selection meeting. He has not played for Mumbai Indians since May 2. He complained of back pain after the game in Chennai but has not played since. He is reportedly training at the Reliance facility and Wankhede Stadium. While he is yet to prove how he needs to fit into the team.” The only thing the selectors are worried about is not getting 10 overs.The selectors and team management are worried about Rohit’s situation as they need to develop additional back-up openers apart from Yashvi Jaiswal. “There are not many ODIs before the World Cup. As Jaiswal does not have enough time. Ishan has been picked so that he can double up as an opener. But if Rohit fails to make it to the World Cup and Shibman Gill or Jaiswal get injured, another opener needs to be drafted in,” said the source.As for Hardik, he was not allowed to bowl 10 overs by the CoE before the three-match ODI series against New Zealand in the first week of January and was therefore not selected for the ODIs, as the selectors wanted to reserve him for the T20 World Cup. However, he bowled a 10-over spell for Baroda in a Vijay Hazare Trophy match five days later. The selectors are pinning their hopes on Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana playing the role of medium pace bowling all-rounders.Time for separate parameters for Rohit, Virat?It is also learned that the BCCI and the team management are trying to move on from the idea that Rohit and Virat Kohli’s ODI prospects need to be combined. “Right now Kohli’s fitness and form is better than most of the Indian cricketers. But one has to understand that Kohli and Rohit can’t be combined now. A firm decision needs to be taken on Rohit after consulting the BCCI medical team”.It has also been seen that Rohit has not been playing a very aggressive brand of batting since stepping down from the captaincy after the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Sources said that the team management is not completely convinced of this behavior.
