During India’s forthcoming three-match ODIs against Australia, commencing on October 19, the attention will be firmly focused on the experienced players of the Indian team, namely, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The side, captained by Shubman Gill, will be visiting Australia for the ODIs, which will also see Kohli and Rohit in the national team after a break of seven months. With the T20I format quitting the two-world champions’ lineup last June, the duo was seven months later in giving up the Test cricket format. Therefore, ODI remains the only format where both players are still active as members of the Indian team.
There are still around two years left for the next Cricket World Cup, and former India captain and ex-coach Ravi Shastri has very wisely advised Rohit and Virat to take one series at a time.
“Virat Kohli’s a master chaser, and Rohit is explosive at the top. They believe they have got enough cricket in them. It depends on your craving, your fitness, whether the game still excites you. Shastri, the Fox Cricket expert, who their experience will be very useful, commented.
“I would say take it one series at a time. It is still a long way to go. “If they have a good one here they should be in a good state of mind, thinking of South Africa,” he further mentioned.
Shastri also opined that if Virat and Rohit are not passionate about playing, they might retire from the ODI format.
“You could witness the end of the T20 era when India won the T20 World Cup. Three of them, (Ravindra) Jadeja, Kohli, and Rohit, went,” he remarked.
“Retirement came for Tests for Virat and Rohit both. They were not forced to leave. They chose to go. I would think it’s rather the same for ODIs. If it’s not fun, if the form is not good, they might decide to retire themselves,” he opined.
