If a report in the Indian Express is to be believed, the third and final ODI against England on Sunday at Lord’s is going to be 39-year-old Rohit Sharma’s last international appearance for Team India.
Rohit looked woefully out of form in the second ODI at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday. He scoffed 47 balls, and all he could score was 26 runs. In the first ODI at Edgbaston on Tuesday, he had scored 11. The previous three innings in the home ODIs against Afghanistan last month, his scores read: 79, 48 and 16. Rohit also had a poor IPL prior to that. Plus, he had fitness issues.
“Selectors have informed Rohit he is not in their scheme of things post the England tour, and they are moving on from him after this series. Though he wanted to continue, especially after working on his fitness. The selectors have left the ball in Sharma’s court to decide his future,” a source in the BCCI told the Indian Express.
Last year, it was Kohli under fire!
Like Rohit, Virat Kohli is under the scanner. Every innings of theirs is being scrutinised. In the second ODI, Kohli came good with a 65. Last year on the tour of Australia, India played three ODIs, and after Kohli registered back-to-back ducks, there were reports that the overseas tour was going to be his last appearance in international cricket. Rohit, on the other hand, had had a good tour of Australia and got a century and a fifty in three games.
Kohli has since come back really strong. It began with a match-winning 74 not out in the third ODI at Sydney. During the IPL earlier this year, Kohli, in an explosive podcast, had given indications that he wasn’t very happy with the team management for putting undue pressure on him in regard to his participation in the next 50-overs World Cup.
We don’t know how true this report is but one thing is certain, if both batsmen want to play the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, they will have to contribute consistently. Even a dry spell of two games can give rise to calls for their heads. Rohit has not done anything of note in the last few matches he has played for India, and the rumour machine has already started grinding. The next couple of days are going to throw up a lot more speculations, rest assured.
