BCCI should offer clarity on the future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
It has been a pretty hectic last few days pertaining to news relating to Indian cricket. The flavour, obviously is Shubman Gill, now elevated as Vice- Captain of Team India which will compete in the Asia Cup in Dubai next month. Gill being fast-tracked has led to many reports, unverified, appearing in social media as well as media. The worst part, even as Suryakumar Yadav sat next to Chairman of the BCCI selection committee, Ajit Agarkar earlier this week, the chatter has been on when Gill gets elevated as captain by the World Cup time in 2026. Come on, has Gill become so important that all other players are now being treated as below par. For its part, the BCCI has stayed mum on several players, which adds to the intrigue.
One more news, from a credible news outlet has speculated, eventually, Shreyas Iyer will become ODI captain! Great news, if that is true, but what happens to present captain Rohit Sharma. The real deal is what is the future of Rohit, who has very recently been described by former India coach Rahul Dravid as a good person when it comes to man-management. One has seen Rohit lead with flair and a degree of being calm when it comes to dealing with players one-on-one.
However, what happened prior to the Indian Test team’s departure to England was bizarre, wherein two captains, past and present, Virat Kohli and Rohit, retired from the pristine red-ball format abruptly. Nobody is saying that there is a permanent place for these two men, but the way it happened was not right.
If the situation now can be read, it appears there is a strong lobby which now suggests, the careers of Rohit and Virat are as good as over even in the ODI format. Rewind to what these two legends had said last year after India won the ICC T20 World Cup in the West Indies. They had made themselves available for the ODI format, with an eye on the next World Cup in 2027. Sadly, much of the muddle now for fans is due to lack of clarity from the BCCI, where the face of the conversations/interactions is Agarkar. His answers on why Shreyas Iyer was not picked for the T20 format was least convincing. Worse, he had no answer to Yashasvi Jaiswal being left out.
It would have been meaningful if Agarkar had spoken on many players and how the BCCI views them. No, from the time Jasprit Bumrah got injured in Australia and then returned for the Test tour to England, a lot has been left open to interpretation. So, then, is it not relevant, the BCCI speaks about what is in store for Virat and Rohit, as both have started training again. They are, obviously, targeting to be part of the Indian team which will play ODIs in Australia in two months’ time. Again, an impression has been created as if this will be the last tour for the duo, whose records in the 50-over format is massive.
Sample this, in 302 ODIs, Kohli has scored 14,181 runs. That is a massive record, even as the star batter turns 37 this November. Rohit has scored 11,168 runs in 273 ODIs. Anyone who has followed these two men will vouch, they have dominated this format emphatically. It is good to talk of transition in Indian cricket and sport at large. However, to treat the two legends as push-overs and throw them into the dustbin is wrong.
Please celebrate a Shubman Gill as well as other younger players who are scoring runs and tons. In this euphoria, do not treat the players who have served Indian cricket with passion and flair like wastrels. Last but not the least, has the BCCI conceived a long-term plan for ODIs, or everything is adhoc and open to interpretation. One does not know who calls the shots in the BCCI, what with President Roger Binny’s term coming to an end as he has turned 70. Does he or any other BCCI official act as the interface between Agarkar and coach Gautam Gambhir?
