Kevin Pietersen, the former captain, was vehement in the defense of both out-of-form Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, saying they don’t even ‘deserve’ questions about their retirement yet. For him, one poor tour of Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy does not make them ‘bad cricketers’ or ‘bad people’ for Pietersen. He believes that people who are ‘questioning’ them should stop looking at ‘statistics’ and consider how Kohli and Rohit have ‘made them feel.
Kohli and Rohit have had a very average last six months in international cricket after the T20 World Cup 2024. Kohli scored one century in the three-Test series against Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Australia, where he was most of the time exposed to his outside-off weakness. Rohit faced an even worse time, with one half-century during the same period, and his dismissals came in many contrasting ways, signaling the gradual slowing of his reflexes.
“It is unfair. How can you tell a guy, who has scored as many runs as these guys, to retire? Yes, there is an element of discussion and I get it, and I do understand it; but these players deserve more respect than this,” Pietersen said at a promotional event on Tuesday, as quoted by PTI.
“I faced the same challenges during my career, and it can happen. They aren’t robots, Rohit and Virat. It isn’t that you get a hundred each time you go out there. They might have had a bad tour to Australia. Does that make them bad people? No. Bad cricketers? Certainly not,” he pointed out.
“You guys must understand that these guys are human beings. You give them bamboo now, but by the time of their retirement, you can look back and think, “When they played what kind of effect did they have on you?” They made people feel happy. It’s not just about statistics. It’s not all about winning and not about losing, and at the end, you finish your career like I did, and people tell me about what a joy I brought to them when I played.”
Kohli and Rohit will find themselves embroiled again with England in the ODI series scheduled to take place at home starting on February 6.
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The upcoming England series will be very crucial for both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as both the batters have been struggling to get back amongst the runs. The duo need to fire their cylinders ahead of the ICC champions trophy as both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are very crucial for team India’s chances heading into the tournament.
The ICC champions trophy is set to start from February 19 with Pakistan and Dubai being the hosts of the marquee event.
