India cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir admitted a few days ago that a transition is in place. Ravichandran Ashwin has already retired, and Washington Sundar has taken over his place in the Test squad. But three more players who are older than 35 years remain. The players in question are Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Transition in Indian cricket
The latter isn’t under the scanner. Although Jadeja’s bowling could have been better against Australia, time and again the all-rounder has shown how valuable his batting down the order is. A few days ago, a report claimed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had a chat with Rohit Sharma after the Melbourne Test, and they’ll also sit down with Kohli after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, but Jadeja wasn’t named.
Gambhir on Rohit Sharma & Kohli’s potential Test retirement
Such has been the batting superstars’ performance that questions over their place are being raised. Rohit Sharma, despite being the captain, had to drop himself for the Sydney Test. Kohli managed to play all five matches in the BGT, but his future remains uncertain.
Neither are looking to retire, but the selectors may just look beyond them. Moments after losing the India vs Australia Test series, 3-1, Gambhir was asked about Kohli and Rohit Sharma potentially retiring from Test cricket. To this, the head coach replied, “I can’t talk about the future of any player. It’s about them as well. But what I can say is they still have the hunger; they still have the passion. But what I can say is whatever they plan will be for the best interest of Indian cricket.”
Will Rohit-Kohli be picked for the India vs England Test series?
Since there are no Test matches scheduled from this to Team India‘s next series (the England Test Tour), deciding whether to move ahead with the senior pros or leave them behind will be tough. Neither of them plays domestic red-ball cricket, and therefore assessing whether they deserve to be part of the squad for the India vs England Test series in June-August won’t be easy to determine.
The series, which is still six months away, isn’t on Gambhir’s mind right now. “We still have 5 more months to plan where we want to head towards. It’s not the right moment for me to talk about it now. Lots of things change in sport—form, attitude, people,” said the Indian head coach in Sydney.
