Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's 2027 World Cup Dream Difficult, Ex-India Star Gives MS Dhoni's Example

NDTV

4 days ago

India stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli bowed out of T20I cricket after guiding the team to the T20 World Cup title in 2024. That trophy ended India's 11-year-old ICC title drought. Later, the duo also called time on their respective Test careers in May this year, leaving the fans heartbroken. However, both the players are still active in the ODIs and aim to play the ODI World Cup in 2027 and help India clinch the trophy. However, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that it will be quite difficult for them to play in the prestigious ICC tournament.
Harbhajan stated that after retiring from two formats, it becomes difficult to maintain a good performance, especially for a tournament like World Cup.
"It's too far, actually. It's been a very long time, and they are not playing any other formats. It becomes very difficult for anyone, no matter how much commitment you have or how big a great you are," Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
"If you do not play the game continuously, somewhere the game moves ahead and you are left behind," he added.
He went on to give an example of former India skipper MS Dhoni, who did not feature in international cricket after India's exit from the 2019 World Cup. Harbhajan called out Dhoni for his batting struggles in the IPL.
"It will be hard. We have seen MS Dhoni playing in the IPL. Look at his performance in the last three years," he said.
You see the difference between this Dhoni and the Dhoni from six years ago when he was playing for India consistently," Harbhajan added.
Earlier, former BCCI selector Jatin Paranjpe revealed a conversation with Rohit Sharma, where the latter had expressed his desire of playing Test cricket for India.
"I remember he was not playing Test cricket for India. And we had this conversation, and he said, 'I started playing cricket with a red ball, Jatin. How can you say that I am not interested in Test cricket?' I got the message, and I was hoping that that was what he would say," Paranjpe said on 'A Century of Stories' podcast with Cyrus Broacha.