Ironical, but Rohit and Kohli will need to keep proving themselves

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli haven’t made it easy for the selectors. Had they failed in Australia, Ajit Agarkar and company would have found it easier to say: sorry folks, it’s time to go. Had only one of them succeeded, the pressure on the other to quit would have been greater. Alternatively, it might have extended his career. After all, the selectors might take a chance with one of them for World Cup 2027, but both?

While the country celebrated the Sydney ODI win and the manner in which the veterans — Rohit is 38, Kohli turns 37 in a few days — recaptured the past, the selectors were given a conundrum. It is not something they have to solve immediately, but they will have to handle it with no loss of dignity either to themselves or the two stalwarts.

Very few Indian players have been allowed the luxury of choosing their time and place of departure. Sachin Tendulkar was given a send-off others can only dream of, with the whole country coming to a standstill, and with carefully chosen visitors — the West Indies — as sacrificial lambs.

When announcing his retirement from One-Day Internationals earlier, Tendulkar had said, “I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup-winning Indian team.”

Missing out

That was a dream denied Rohit Sharma when, at 24, he was not picked for the 2011 World Cup at home. The selectors preferred an extra bowler, Piyush Chawla. Kohli was in the triumphant team and helped carry Tendulkar around the stadium after the win. In 2023, again at home, Rohit was now captain and India looked likely winners till they lost to Australia in the final. So there’s a bit of unfinished business in his case.

The World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia commences in October, which means a five-month break after the IPL for the two players. Like they did with Test cricket and Tendulkar, India’s cricket board might decide to have a couple of unscheduled ODI series just to ensure the stalwarts keep in touch. That is if they are ruled by such things as public sentiment.

A better way might be to tell Rohit and Kohli privately that they will be a) picked, regardless of what happens or b) not picked, regardless of what happens. Selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar’s term ends in June next year. But he has been given one extension, and could be given another. The key man here is likely to be coach Gautam Gambhir. And possibly skipper Shubman Gill too. Rohit missed out on 2011 because of the then captain M.S. Dhoni’s insistence on choosing the leg spinner; ironically, another captain could see him play in 2027.

The World Cup is a good two years away, and all speculation at this stage might be futile. Such things as form, fitness, motivation, team balance closer to the event will decide. But the fact that the bulk of the tournament is being played in South Africa suggests that experience could be vital.

The Sydney performances might be classified under ‘swallows and summers’. A single one of the former does not prove the existence of the latter. India knew their target; Rohit could return to his earlier manner of getting comfortable before launching an attack and Kohli felt at home chasing. He averages 65 in chases with 28 centuries. Where he has remained unbeaten, India have won 51 of 52 chases.

Need for match practice

While both stalwarts looked out of sorts in the first ODI in Australia, and Rohit did at the start of the second before getting a 70-plus (while Kohli looked strangely under-confident), it might have had to do with lack of acclimatisation. This applies to the team in general. Modern teams do not believe in getting used to conditions while playing abroad. Here was indication that the Indian team ought to give themselves sufficient match practice in South Africa ahead of the World Cup.

Whatever happens between now and then, the Rohit-Kohli question will continue to loom. Two of the greatest players in the format will have to keep proving themselves afresh. Painful? Necessary? Match results (there are 21 ODI till the end of next year) then become less important than the subtext of the contests.