- By Sports desk
- Wed, 22 Apr 2026 06:40 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Former BCCI selector K. Srikkanth has revealed that he apologised to Rohit Sharma in 2020 for not picking him in India’s 2011 World Cup squad. He said Rohit was good enough to be in the team, but the selectors at that time went with a squad filled with more all-rounders to add extra bowling depth.
Rohit Sharma, now one of India’s most successful white-ball batters and a double ICC trophy-winning captain, has often said that missing the 2011 World Cup is the biggest regret of his career. That setback is also seen as one of the reasons behind his long-term drive and consistency. He went on to shine in later editions, finishing among the top performers in 2015 and 2019, and later led India to a strong winning run as captain in 2023. He has also shown interest in staying available for the 2027 World Cup despite being 40 by then.
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“Poor fellow, he missed it," Srikkanth said on a podcast for The Week. “I feel bad for him even today. I told Rohit one day, in 2020… I’m sorry, boss. It’s not on purpose, but it’s just that we wanted to take those half all-rounders. The team was packed with half all-rounders. Because if you see the 1983 World Cup – Roger Binny was an all-rounder, the main all-rounder was Kapil Dev… Except Srikanth, Kirmani and Sunil Gavaskar, everybody bowled in that World Cup," Srikkanth, speaking on a podcast for The Week.
“So our thought process was similar to that. And you see, end of the day, who was the man of the tournament? Yuvraj Singh – bowling and batting… In this half all-rounder concept, Rohit Sharma, poor fellow, he could not find a place," Srikkanth added.
“Not that he was not good enough. He was actually good enough to play the 2011 World Cup. But poor boy, he missed it. Today also I feel bad for him. I’ll be very honest with you – [people say] ‘Oh, how could we miss Rohit that time?’ But then whom to replace? Whom could he replace? We don’t know. That’s a debatable question. So let’s not go into that. I’m just saying – if you ask Rohit, even now, in every interview, he’ll say my biggest disappointment is not being a part of the 2011 World Cup. I told him straight on his face – boss, sorry boss. I know I’ve seen all the interviews, you keep on saying I missed the 2011 World Cup. My apologies. We didn’t do it on purpose," he added.
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At the time of the 2011 World Cup selection, Rohit was also a part-time off-spinner and even had an IPL hat-trick to his name. However, a serious finger injury later affected his ability to bowl regularly, and he gradually became a specialist batter.