Indian Batting Legends Opt Out of Tests and T20Is for ODI Focus
In the past week, two of India’s finest modern-day batting greats – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – have announced shock retirements from Test cricket. This is after both appeared to have been looking forward to India’s five-match Test tour of England starting next month. A slump in form coinciding with the team’s failure to qualify for the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) alongside head coach Gautam Gambhir’s reported insistence on including fresh faces ahead of the next cycle may have contributed to their respective decision.
Now, both Rohit and Kohli have retired from two formats – Tests and T20Is – and will only appear in ODI cricket for India. Their aim will now be to continue scoring runs in the one-day format and keep them in contention for the next world cup slated to be held in 2027.
Despite their incredible ODI numbers, it’s a task that’s easier said than done. And batting legend Sunil Gavaskar feels it’s all down to the selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar whether it considers Rohit and Kohli good enough to be in their plans for the marquee event two years from now.
“They (Rohit and Kohli) have been massive performers in this format of the game,” Gavaskar ws quoted as saying by India Today. “Again, the selection committee will probably be looking at the 2027 World Cup. They will be looking at ‘will they be able to be in the team for the 2027 World Cup? Will they be able to make the kind of contributions they have been making?’. That will be the thought process of the selection committee. If the selection committee thinks ‘yes, they can’, then both of them will be there for that.”
However, personally, Gavaskar thinks neither Rohit nor Kohli will be playing in the next ODI World Cup before adding that should their performances be good enough, it will be near impossible to ignore them.
“No, I don’t think they will be playing. I am being very honest. But, who knows, in the next year or so, if they strike a rich vein of form, and if they keep scoring hundreds and hundreds, even God can’t drop them,” Gavaskar said.
