Newly-appointed Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir believes the senior duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli still have a lot of cricket left to offer.
Speaking in his first press conference ahead of the India tour of Sri Lanka, Gambhir told reporters, “They have shown what they can deliver at the big stage. Whether it is the T20 World Cup or the ODI World Cup. I think both of them have lot more cricket left in them. We’ve got the Champions Trophy, a tour of Australia, so they will be motivated. If they keep their fitness then even the 2027 World Cup. To answer how much cricket is left in them is difficult. Any team that has players of their class would love to have them for as long as possible.”
Gambhir’s comments come in the light of the two seniors announcing their retirement from the shortest format after India’s T20 World Cup win last month.
When asked if the teams across the three formats would look different from each other, the head coach disagreed. “Going forward these things (retirements) happen. Can’t say right now that there are going to be three different teams. T20 will be in transition with world class players retiring. The more players that can play both all formats the better.”
When asked what he made of the workload management of Rohit and Kohli, as well as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Gambhir stated that while the batters ideally should play all formats, pacers need to be used judiciously.
“I’ve said it before, workload management for someone like Jasprit (Bumrah) is important. He is one rare bowler, which anyone would want. You want him to play important games. That’s why the workload management for not just him but fast bowlers is important,” Gambhir said.
“If you are a batter, who’s batting well, you might as well just play all formats. Rohit and Virat have retired from T20Is now, so they will play two formats from now. Hopefully they are available for most of the games,” he added.
The Indian Express had recently reported that the senior players in the Indian team had agreed to the request of newly appointed coach Gautam Gambhir to take part in the three-match ODIs as it will be his first series as a coach.
Gambhir’s first assignment with the national team is a tour of Sri Lanka that features three T20Is and as many ODIs starting July 27.
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