"No man named Ishan Kishan was harmed in this statement" - Fans feel Rohit Sharma took a shot at 2 Indian cricketers in latest press conference

Indian captain Rohit Sharma became the first skipper to win a Test series against Brendon McCullum-coached England team earlier today (February 26). The Indian side secured an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series by emerging victorious by five wickets in the Ranchi Test match.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Rohit Sharma heaped praise on the team's youngsters. The likes of Dhruv Jurel, Akash Deep, Sarfaraz Khan, and Shubman Gill have stepped up and delivered the goods in the absence of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Sharma further spoke about the hunger in the young players for Test cricket, commenting:

"Dekho, jinko Test Cricket ki bhook nahi hain, wo dekh ke hi pata chal jata hain. Un sabko khilane ka kya faida phir? (See, the one who doesn't have hunger to play Tests can be seen, what's the meaning of playing them?)".

Some fans on social media felt that this statement was an indirect dig at Ishan Kishan, who has been away from cricket for quite some time now. A few even opined that Rohit fired a shot at Hardik Pandya, who hasn't played any red-ball cricket in recent years.

Here are some of the top fan reactions on X:

Rohit Sharma will play with Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024

While Sharma's latest statement has forced the fans to think whether he took a shot at Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya, the fact is that all three players will represent the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the upcoming IPL 2024 season. MI will start their campaign against former champions Gujarat Titans (GT) on March 24.

Notably, GT knocked MI out of IPL 2023 by defeating them in the Qualifier 2 match last year, but Hardik Pandya, who led GT in that game, will lead MI this season. It will be interesting to see which team wins the battle in Ahmedabad.