Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from T20Is after the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph.
India’s T20 World Cup triumph marked the end of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s illustrious T20I careers in June this year. The legendary duo announced their retirement from the international shortest format, paving the way for the young generation.
While the Indian team will continue to rely on the experience and expertise of Rohit and Kohli in ODIs and Tests, it is important to recognize that their careers are approaching the final stages.
However, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh feels Rohit and Kohli still have a lot of cricket left in them and it is up to the pair to take a call on their future.
According to Harbhajan, Kohli can easily survive the rigours of international cricket for another five years given his supreme fitness whereas Rohit will last at least another couple of years.
“Rohit can easily play for two more years. You never know with Virat Kohli’s fitness, you can see him competing for five years. He is probably the fittest guy in the team,” Harbhajan told PTI in an exclusive chat.
“You ask any 19-year-old competing with Virat (on fitness). Virat will beat him. He is that fit. I believe Virat and Rohit have a lot of cricket left in them and it is entirely up to them. If they are fit enough, they are performing and the team is winning, they should continue to play. As simple as that,” he added.
Harbhajan believes that the Indian team needs the two batting stalwarts in the longest format of the game. Virat Kohli will turn 36 in November, while Rohit Sharma celebrated his 37th birthday in April this year.
“Red ball cricket, you really need these two guys to play a little bit more than what people are asking. You need experience in all formats whether its limited overs cricket and Test cricket. You need experienced cricketers to nurture the talent that is coming up,” Harbhajan remarked.
“Selectors need to see, that if someone is not performing well, they should be dropped. Whether they are senior player or juniors. But as long as everyone is fit, they should be able to get selected in the team.”
He further stated: “And if they are not contributing in any manner, whether its fitness or number of runs, then the time has come. They should be making way for the youngsters.
“At the end of the day, it’s an individual decision and selectors are there to watch these steps as to who are capable to perform at what age. Obviously, they are considering all those factors before picking them.”
Harbhajan Singh also opined that the youngsters have way more hunger than senior players as they are always keen to prove themselves.
“I always believe that youngsters have much more hunger than the seniors. If you play for 15 years your hunger a little bit comes down. Great to see Riyan Parag getting the opportunities and the way Yashasvi Jaiswal is coming up and Shubman Gill is playing.”
During the recently held ODI series against Sri Lanka, India suffered a 2-0 defeat despite the presence of Rohit and Kohli in the squad.
Commenting on the loss, Harbhajan said: “It was one of those things. Sometimes you win it, sometimes you lose it. It’s sports after all. All teams go through these periods. You play well but you still don’t win. I will give credit to Sri Lanka. They played well. They played better than India.”
(With inputs from Agencies)