Rohit and Virat's World Cup 2027 Future Hinges on Performance, Says Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir said in the 'India at 2047' summit that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should stay in the team as long as they are performing well. He spoke about his lack of role in team selection and termed the farewell as insignificant. He believes that the performance of the player should be the basis of his selection.
On Tuesday, Indian team head coach Gautam Gambhir said that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should remain part of the team as long as they are performing well. He claimed that he would have no role in deciding whether to pick these two senior batsmen for the upcoming Test tour of England. There is not much discussion about Virat Kohli but there are questions on his future as well. Speaking at the 'India at 2047' summit, Gambhir refrained from commenting on the future of senior players and said, "First of all, the coach's job is not to select the team. The coach selects only the 11 players who will play the match. Neither were there selectors coaching before me, nor am I a selector."
When asked about this, Gambhir said, "As long as Rohit and Kohli are doing well, they should remain part of the team. When you start playing and when you finish is your personal decision. "No coach, no selector or BCCI can tell you when you should stop playing. If you perform well, at the age of 40, you can play till 45, who is stopping you?
India will tour England for a five-match Test series starting June 20. Although Gambhir did not give any definite answer on the future of the duo, his view on their ability to play till the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa was slightly more positive. "It will depend on their performance. Only that can ensure their selection. "
Both batsmen received a lot of criticism for their disappointing performance on the Australia Test tour. However, both the batsmen performed very well during the Champions Trophy and Gambhir admitted this. "And what do I say about his performance? The world saw how he performed in CT," Gambhir said.
Gambhir also dismissed the concept of planned farewell and said that no player keeps it on his wish list. He said, "No player plays cricket thinking about a grand farewell. Instead of farewells, we should try to remember how and under what circumstances they have won matches for the country. Whether they get a farewell or not is not important. If he has contributed to the country, that in itself is a big farewell. Can there be a trophy greater than the love of the countrymen? Farewell doesn't matter to cricketers. "