Former India captain & ex-BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has given his blunt take on stalwarts Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma playing the ODI World Cup 2027 tournament. The expert feels both the icons should continue playing the 50-over format until the showpiece event, as they have been performing terrifically in the format. Notably, there were several speculations that Kohli and Rohit would be phased out before the World Cup to make way for youngsters in the team.
The same reports also stated that both stalwarts' last ODI series will be against Australia in October Down Under. However, when quizzed to Ganguly about the impending retirements of the two cricketers, he said he was not aware of such news.
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"I'm not aware of this, can't comment on this,” he remarked when asked about the speculation.
The expert further stated that performance is the only deciding factor in judging a player's place in the team.
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"It's difficult to say. Whoever does well will play. If they do well, they should continue. Kohli's one-day record is phenomenal, even Rohit Sharma's. Both of them are phenomenal in white-ball cricket,” he said during the AWL Agri Business Ltd Event.
For the unversed, both Kohli & Rohit Sharma have not spoken about quitting from the ODI formats, after retiring from the other two formats of the game. Both players have the desire to play the ODI World Cup 2027 event. However, with age not on their side, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel might not want to play the icons till the showpiece event. India will next play an ODI series against Australia, which begins on October 19, with matches set to be played in Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney.
Will the selectors persist with Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma?
With the dust slowly settling on the England Test series, the selectors will be keen to have a long discussion with Kohli & Rohit to know about their ODI future. Over the past year, the BCCI has been very strict with players playing domestic cricket during the off-season. If the duo wishes to play till the ODI World Cup, then the BCCI will instruct them to play the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. Based on the form in that tournament, the board might decide if the icons still have it in them to carry on for two years.
Also read: No ODI 2027 World Cup for Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma? BCCI aims to phase out two icons: Report
However, if the duo decides against playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy, then the Australia ODI series could potentially be a farewell series for the two great Indian icons.
