Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as the head coach of the Indian team raised questions on the future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Rohit and Virat announced their retirements from T20I after T20 World Cup victory. Though the BCCI secretary Jay Shah has assured that Rohit will lead the team during the ICC championships Trophy and the World Test Championships in 2025, it is not completely sure if he and Virat will be available for the next ODI World Cup which is to be held in 2027.
In a press conference, Gambhir also repeated that both Rohit and Kohli are in his plans, saying that both of them have plenty of cricket left in them.
Although, on this statement by Gambhir, Krishnamachari Srikkanth pointed out how Gambhir earlier hinted of senior players not having a place in the team if they fail to perform in T20 World Cup.
“Gautam Gambhir has taken a U-turn. Before the T20 World Cup 2024, he was saying if Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma do not perform, they will not sit in my team. Then he took a U-turn now, saying there is no player like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. After becoming head coach, he said that both have a lot of cricket left and hopefully they will fit for the 2027 World Cup,” Srikkanth said in a YouTube video.
Srikkanth also suggested that while there is a possibility of Kohli to appear in the tournament, it would be very difficult for Rohit to play after the age of 40.
“He is a good player, but his age is 37 presently, and the next ODI World Cup is three more years ahead. He will be 40 years old then. I mean, unless you are a super-fit person like MS Dhoni or Sachin Tendulkar, you can’t play World Cup at 40s. Yeah, Virat Kohli could play in the 2027 World Cup, in my opinion, for sure. But for Rohit, Mr. Gambhir, you went overboard; he will faint in South Africa,” he added.
The 2027 ODI World Cup is to be held in Africa as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will host the tournament jointly.
