Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar shared his views on Rohit Sharma being replaced by Shubman Gill as India ODI captain, bringing an end to his era. This was announced by BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar, who announced the Indian squads for the Australia ODI and T20I tour.
With each word Agarkar spoke, it became clear that Rohit and Virat Kohli's chances of playing in the 2027 World Cup were remote. Of course, age is an important consideration. By the time South Africa hosts the world's largest cricket tournament, Rohit will be 40 and Kohli will be close to 39. However, Ro-Ko is more concerned with match practice.
After retiring from Tests and T20Is, Kohli and Rohit have just ODIs left in international cricket, and the readiness and willingness to prepare for the World Cup in South Africa will only grow with time.
Gavaskar stated that BCCI made the right call in naming Gill the new India ODI captain and relieving Rohit Sharma of the responsibility.
"We don't know whether Rohit Sharma will be ready for the 2027 World Cup. He only plays ODIs now, and if we see the international calendar, the Indian team isn't playing too many ODIs. Bilateral tours mostly include tests and T20Is. If he only plays 5-7 ODIs in a year, he won't get that kind of practice, which you need for a big tournament like a World Cup. If his place in the team isn't certain, the decision to prepare Shubman Gill was taken," Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
"Team comes from. Personally, he has done a lot—won us the Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup before that. There's no two ways about his captaincy. But even he (Rohit Sharma) agrees with this decision because if you need to think two years ahead, then a young captain needs to be prepared. And this is the thought process the selection committee went ahead with,” he added.
India will play 27 ODIs before the ICC World Cup begins in Africa, and there is an expectation that more will be added if BCCI feels so. These matches are spread out throughout the calendar, and with Rohit and Kohli's reluctance to play domestic cricket, the path to the 2027 World Cup appears difficult.
"Of course. If you are non-committal, if you can't say whether you’ll be ready for the next two years, be ready [for more bad news]. Even they are aware that if they only have to play ODI, there are rarely any. For that, they need to practice more and play something like the Vijay Hazare Trophy. This is possibly why they have taken that stance,” Gavaskar stated.
Rohit and Kohli will make their much-awaited India return when the Men in Blue face Australia in a three-match ODI series starting October 19.
