Former India pacer Sreesanth requested fans and cricket pundits to stop speculating about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's retirement. The batting stalwarts struggled badly during the Test tour of Australia, resulting a lot of chatter around their future.
However, following India's four-wicket win over Australia in the Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal, Sreesanth expressed his desire to see the duo taking part in the Olympics 2028 and win the gold medal for the country.
Cricket will be part of the Los Angeles Olympics and Sreesanth urged the BCCI to "let them keep playing" so that they can clinch the gold medal.
"Everybody's talking about Virat and you know Rohit might be retiring. Please let them keep playing. We are going to win the Olympics because there is nothing like an Olympian Virat and Olympian Rohit winning the gold medal for the country," Sreesanth said to India Today.
Team India are enjoying a dominant run in the ongoing Champions Trophy. After beating Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand in the group-stage, the Men in Blue outplayed Australia in the semi-final to make their third consecutive appearance in the final of the showpiece tournament.
The Rohit Sharma-led side will face New Zealand in the title clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (March 9).
"Doesn't matter who the opponents are in the final -- India are going to win," Sreesanth told PTI Video.
"There is so much positive energy. They are playing some wonderful cricket. The way Virat Kohli anchoring the chase, the way Shreyas Iyer has stepped up -- let's just keep our fingers crossed."
The 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup winner also emphasized the importance of staying grounded. "Let's be humble in our process. That's what Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) used to say -- one of the best captains I've played with.
"Even Sourav Ganguly used to say the same. Dada always used to say, let's be humble and trust the process. That's exactly what the Indian team is doing... Gautam (Gambhir) bhai is doing a great job," he remarked.
(With PTI Inputs)
