Shubman Gill’s elevation as India’s ODI captain, and Rohit Sharma’s removal as skipper of the team in the 50-over format, has triggered debates about Rohit and Virat Kohli’s future in international cricket. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes the duo will have to feature regularly in domestic cricket in order to keep their hopes alive of representing their country in the 2027 ODI World Cup.
On Saturday, India announced their squads for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia, in which both Rohit and Kohli were named. Both the star batters will be seen playing professional cricket for the first time since the conclusion of the IPL in May, which, according to Pathan, cannot be a regular feature if they harbour plans to continue playing till the quadrennial event in South Africa in two years time.
“Rohit (Sharma) and Virat (Kohli) want to play the 2027 World Cup, but game fitness will be a big challenge for them,” Pathan said in a video on his YouTube channel. “Rohit has worked well on his fitness. He is focused on that. But there is regular fitness, and game time fitness… If you are not playing regular cricket, both of them have to ensure some game time. They have to play domestic cricket.
“They are big players and know what to do. They have all the experience in the world. But they are not even playing T20Is, so there will be big gaps between the few matches that they play before the big World Cup. They will need regular game time to be fit for that. Only then will their dream to play the 2027 World Cup come true,” he added
Pathan also heaped praise on newly appointed skipper Gill, but warned that pressure will be on his shoulders to take the legacy forward of the two stalwart captains before him.
“There is a leadership change, Gill will lead in both formats now. This is a big opportunity but a huge responsibility too. He has to take forward Virat’s legacy in Test cricket and Rohit’s legacy in white-ball cricket. This is a challenging but exciting phase for him as he is already batting well, he will need to keep that form going,” Pathan said.
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