Do you think we are witnessing the end of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma? All the signals are leading to that conclusion. The brilliant pair has already quit from Tests and T20s. They will play ODIs for the Indian team in the three-match series against Australia, starting on October 19, but now Rohit is not the captain anymore. Shubman Gill, who is already the Test captain, is the first ODI team captain in waiting. Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary believes that Kohli and Rohit’s retirement might be around the corner as the recent developments have been ‘nothing short of disrespectful’.
Tiwary was quoted as saying: “You’ve said that after losing the captaincy, Rohit Sharma should retire. Will it affect Virat Kohli too?”
“It has already affected. Otherwise, why would Virat have given up Test cricket? He was in the process of mentally getting ready for the next England series. But the atmosphere, the scenario of him in Indian cricket, made him feel unappreciated. When a player, regardless of how great he is, begins to feel that way and is not respected, he will not last long if he is a player of self-respect and dignity,” Tiwary said in an interview with CricTracker.
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“That is precisely the reason why Virat silently parted with Test cricket, not due to lack of passion but rather to self-respect. And if the scenario persists, I honestly consider the possibility of Rohit taking that step as a future option not for his sake but because an eminent player shall never be forced to play in a place where he is not valued.”
Tiwary was also inquired about the strategy behind promoting Shubman Gill as a potential all-format captain. “There is no need for a rocket scientist to decode this. Their declarations give it away that they do not want different skippers for different formats. That indirectly implies they are planning to make Shubman Gill the captain in all formats. But let us not dwell on that for now and rather raise a question: why make the change at this point? When appointing a captain, the objective is to win matches and series. Rohit Sharma was consistently doing that already,” he stated.
“Definitely a reversal of the change, the team’s performance was really good, winning was just about the results, so what was the need for this step? It was nothing but disrespectful if both the players, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have contributed so much to Indian cricket were treated like this. In my opinion, both of them may, in fact, announce their retirement soon, perhaps right after the series with Australia.”
