Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has urged the selectors and team management to leave Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma alone and warned them of the consequences of messing with the legends of the game.
India’s great players Rohit and Virat have been facing constant heat for their performances as both of them have come of age and are playing only one format of international cricket with limited playing time, and finally, the management is looking for the slightest opportunity to get rid of them.
Ravi Shastri warned not to mess with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Ever since their retirement from Test cricket, there have been endless discussions about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Ravi Shastri has given a stern warning to BCCI of facing consequences for unnecessarily raising questions on these two great players. Shastri highlighted that troubling him for personal agenda is like hitting an ax in the foot.
“These two are grandfathers. White ball giants, so don’t have fun with such players, man. If their mind gets right and they press the right buttons, everything will go well.” Shastri said in a teaser video of his interview released by Prabhat Khabar.
When Shastri was asked who were these people who were ‘having fun’ with the two great people, he replied simply and simply, “Those who want to do that.” Shastri was one of the few who said that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should stay with the team till the 2027 World Cup, but he also said that it will not be an easy task for them to keep up with so many emerging young talents.
Ravi Shastri says, “You cannot buy experience from the outside market.”
Ravi Shastri can undoubtedly be called the architect of the golden era of Indian cricket, a phase between 2017-2021, when Shastri was the head coach of the Indian team and the Men in Blue were unbeaten in both red-ball and white-ball cricket.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were the two pillars at the time when India was the most dangerous team in the ICC rankings, surpassing even Australia. Hence, Indian cricket fans acknowledge the contributions of the two legends to the game.
He indirectly described Kohli and Rohit as irreplaceable, saying, “You can’t buy experience from the outside market. One is a master chaser, the other has three double centuries in ODI cricket.”
Ro-Co is not getting support from Indian management
It is quite clear that ever since Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have announced their retirement from the longest format of the game, doubts have arisen over their ODI careers as well. However, both the legends have shown courage and determination to fight till their last innings to retain their places till the 2027 ICC World Cup.
However, it is clear that neither Rohit Sharma nor Virat Kohli have a good relationship with the current heads of the Indian management, be it Gautam Gambhir or Ajit Agarkar. BCCI also forced him to return to domestic cricket, which did not go down well with the veteran.
While some former cricketers like Kris Srikkanth and Mohammad Kaif have not spoken out claiming that India cannot win the 2027 World Cup without these two legends, the BCCI has not guaranteed them a spot.
Also read: Marnus Labuschagne takes an extraordinary catch to break Joe Root-Jofra Archer partnership in Gabba Test
