The newly-appointed Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has shed light on the future of star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli following their retirement from T20Is.
Rohit and Kohli announced their retirement from the shortest format of the game for Team India after the Men in Blue’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, where they defeated South Africa in the final held in Barbados last month. The retirement of these two batting legends from T20Is came as a surprise to many.
With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retiring from the T20is, there has been questions over their future in international cricket. Speaking at the press conference ahead of Sri Lanka tour, Gambhir believes that the batting duo has a lot of cricket left in them and backed them to play in the 2027 ODI World Cup.
"They have a lot of cricket left in them (Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma). There's a big tour of Australia and Champions Trophy coming up, they will be motivated enough. And if they can keep their fitness even the 2027 World Cup." Gautam Gambhir.
Notably, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah confirmed that Rohit Sharma will be leading Team India in the ongoing World Test Championship and the next year's Champions Trophy. While, Virat Kohli is expected to focus on longer formats after bidding adieu to the T20Is.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to play in the ODI series against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be returning to action for the ODI series against Sri Lanka, starting on August 2. The two are currently on break after the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph.
Earlier, it was reported that Rohit and Kohli wouldn't be available for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. However, the newly appointed coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar reached out to batting duo and reportedly convinced them to join the squad for the ODIs.
The availability of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli was confirmed by the BCCI when they announced the squads for the Sri Lanka tour.
ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
