Cricketer-turned-expert Sunil Gavaskar has a simple and blunt piece of advice for Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma to fulfill their ambition of playing in the 2027 50-over World Cup, which will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, & Namibia. Notably, the two stalwarts have also been named in the squad selected for the Australia ODI series.
The two batting icons last featured for India in March during the team's title-winning Champions Trophy campaign in 2025. After that, Kohli & Rohit turned to play in the IPL 2025 season, which took place in April and May. However, since then, the duo have not played any cricket, focusing only on training and gym sessions.
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"They will have to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy in India whenever it's scheduled, if it doesn't clash with any international ODI tournaments. That's one way to stay in trim and maintain match practice," Gavaskar told India Today.
For the unversed, age is not by the side of two icons of Indian Cricket, as Kohli will be 38 and Rohit 40 by the time the 2027 WC comes, Gavaskar stated the two batters would find it challenging to remain in contention for selection unless they play a domestic ODI tournament.
"It depends to a great extent on the number of one-day matches that India plays over the next couple of years," said Gavaskar.
"Look, it's not easy to be playing just seven or eight ODIs in a season while preparing for something as big as the World Cup. For those eight white-ball games, there are probably five T20s and three ODIs. That is not giving much in terms of exposure or practice for players who are approaching the latter stages of their careers," he added.
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Kohli & Rohit Sharma would not have played ODI series if India was not touring Australia: Gavaskar
The legendary cricketer also took a sly dig at Kohli & Rohit on their availability Down Under.
"I am pretty certain that if this were a trip to Zimbabwe or the West Indies, both of them would not have been available. But because this is in Australia, and because India lost to Australia in the World Cup final, maybe that is the reason why both of them have decided, yes, I want to be available for this," he said.
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