New Delhi: India head coach Gautam Gambhir has expressed his strong desire to stay in Los Angeles during the Olympics. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar wants to stay on until the 2027 ODI World Cup. T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav has set his sights on 2028, with ODI skipper Shubman Gill locking South Africa’s final target. Every important figure in Indian cricket is focused on what lies ahead, but the great irony is that two of the country’s biggest superstars still have to deal with hints of noncommittal.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, two former ODI captains and arguably the best cricketers to have ever played the sport, are yet to garner public support for next year’s tournament in South Africa. “There is still time”, “There are still nearly two years until the World Cup”, “We have to focus on the present”. Over time, the rhetoric has changed, but the sentiment has remained the same.
The only reassuring words from the Indian camp came in October 2025, when India’s Test and newly-appointed ODI captain Gill backed the two stalwarts.
“Of course,” Gill said when asked if he felt Rohit and Kohli played a big role in the ODIs ahead of the World Cup. “The experience of both of them is immense and few players can match the number of matches they have won for India,” he added.
Less than a week later, Coach Gambill urged everyone to “live in the moment.”
“Look, we’re still two and a half years away from the 50-over World Cup and I think it’s very important to stay in the moment,” he told a press conference after India beat West Indies 2-0 in the Test series.
“It’s very important. Obviously, they’re both good players and they’ll be back and their experience will be in the minority in Australia. Hopefully those two can have a successful tour and more importantly as a team we’ll have a successful series.”
Since then, Virat and Rohit have played series against Australia, South Africa and New Zealand and they have also squeezed in some Group A matches for their respective states in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. While Rohit has lost a lot of weight – “half the weight” according to Brendon McCullum – Virat has gained plenty of focus.
Virat, especially, has switched to beast mode. In his last 10 fifty-over games, he has hit four hundreds and even as many as half-centuries. Rohit was quieter against New Zealand but he also looked dangerous in the series against South Africa and Australia. The two right-handers, who have been the mainstay of the Indian team for the past two decades, are now in the final stages of their careers but continue to fight for survival while pursuing unfinished business three years ago.
With India facing a packed ODI schedule ahead of next year’s World Cup, BCCI personnel will have to call Rohit and Virat to discuss their plans. Not the players’ plan, but the board’s plan. The players have been targeted and the onus is now on the Indian Cricket Board to deal with the situation.
The dagger of insecurity hanging over their heads is not ideal for any Indian dressing room and it is no surprise that the ODI set-up remains the most tense dressing room. There have been strong complaints that some senior players have restricted conversations with coaches and limited conversations with the chief selector to formal pleasantries.
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The head coach, in one of his many media appearances after winning the T20 World Cup, asserted that planning for the ODI World Cup will begin sometime during the IPL but conversations need to take place before the blueprint is finalized. Not just a conversation, but a clear communication on whether Virat and Rohit fit into the World Cup plans.
While it’s interesting that a conversation of this nature, involving two white-ball giants, is even necessary, the indirect messaging through press conferences and the growing discussion on social media timelines are doing everything but making the locker room ideal for an event of this proportion.
If other single-format cricketers (not to the right of 30) can look ahead two years; if the chief selector can ask to try to finish unfinished business; and if the head coach can express a desire to stay on after one year of his official tenure ending, the least that Virat and Rohit can look forward to is a clear dialogue. If those who count still feel like they can take a real shot without these two and keep the locker room in optimal security, then they must be reading the room with supernatural powers.
