Kapil Dev believes that India men’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and ODI skipper Shubman Gill should carry little weight in deciding whether Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma deserve to be at the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. He wants the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee to be the primary decision-makers, saying if the five committee members want Kohli and Rohit, then the coach and captain’s opinions shouldn’t matter.
Kohli will be 39, and Rohit will be well past 40 by the time of the World Cup. Not many of that age play the sport at the highest level, but they have been given their deserved grace as legends of the format. While age has had little effect on their performances in bilateral cricket, the pressure of keeping the standards up has only
increased, especially with a host of young stars waiting in the wings.
Then, there are rumors that the Gambhir-led management might not want both of them to play at the World Cup.
“Look, management isn’t the main thing,” Kapil said on India Today. “The selectors—there are five selectors—if their thought process is right, that’s what matters. First, there are five selectors. Then you go to the captain to ask, and then you go to the manager to understand their thought process. But first, if the five selectors have decided that he is good enough, then you don’t need to go to the captain or the manager. And if the selectors are doing their job properly, then it’s fine,” he added.
While Kohli doesn’t have a straightforward backup, there have been rumors about Gambhir preferring a left-right-hand opening pair for the ODI format, putting Rohit in the crosshairs.
‘The problem of age’
Kapil didn’t give a definitive answer on whether he would like Kohli and Rohit to play the tournament, but explained why their age makes their road ahead tricky.
“I don’t know what the selectors’ thought process is. Sometimes people say, yaar, how can a 25-year-old retire? But they do. And if you’re fit, if you have the ability, if you can play at 39 or 40—why not? If your performance is there, then don’t count age. The problem with age is—if you hit a bad patch, the public and everyone will say, his time is up. But if the same bad patch happens to a 20-year-old, people say, no problem, time will come, he’ll come back.
