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Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli brutally told ‘to play domestic cricket' in staggering claim: ‘Only then their dream to…’
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were named in the squad for the upcoming Australia ODIs, and the duo will be in action for the first time since IPL 2025.
India's announcement of its squad for the Australia ODIs saw some significant changes. The biggest change was Rohit Sharma's removal from the captaincy role and Shubman Gill being named as his replacement. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer has been given the vice-captaincy role. Both Rohit and Virat Kohli were named in the squad, and the duo will be in action for the first time since IPL 2025.
According to former India cricketer Irfan Pathan, both Rohit and Kohli need to play domestic cricket regularly if they want to represent India in the 2027 ODI World Cup. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said, "Rohit (Sharma) and Virat (Kohli) want to play the 2027 World Cup, but game fitness will be a big challenge for them."
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"Rohit has worked well on his fitness. He is focused on that. But there is regular fitness, and game time fitness… If you are not playing regular cricket, both of them have to ensure some game time. They have to play domestic cricket.
"They are big players and know what to do. They have all the experience in the world. But they are not even playing T20Is, so there will be big gaps between the few matches that they play before the big World Cup. They will need regular game time to be fit for that. Only then will their dream to play the 2027 World Cup come true."
Rohit captained India to Champions Trophy glory this year. The MI star and Kohli have already announced their Test and T20I retirements but haven't yet quit ODI cricket. Among the other changes in the ODI squad, Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakaravarthy were dropped. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah was rested. Hardik Pandya is still recovering from a quadriceps injury, and Rishabh Pant hasn't yet recovered from his broken foot.
