Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has advised Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to return to domestic cricket to get the game-time they’d need to make a case for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Pathan’s suggestion comes after chief selector Ajit Agarkar said the two legends were ‘non-commital’ for the marquee tournament, in a press conference where he also announced that Shubman Gill would take over from Rohit as the ODI captain.
Kohli and Rohit retired from T20Is together in 2024 and gave up Test cricket within days of each other in early 2025. This means the only game time they get is via bilateral ODIs, which have dramatically reduced in number due to commerical reasons, and the IPL, which is the T20 format.
“Rohit (Sharma) and Virat (Kohli) want to
play the 2027 World Cup, but game fitness will be a big challenge for them,” Pathan said in a video on his YouTube channel. “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,” he added.
“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,” he said.
After the ODI tour of Australia, where Gill will begin his captaincy journey, India’s domestic season will kick off in the winter. The Vijay Hazare Trophy is the country’s marquee List-A tournament, and it has been years since Kohli or Rohit featured in it.
‘Challenging but exciting for Gill’: Irfan Pathan
Pathan added that the upcoming phase would be exciting for Gill but he also has big shoes to fill, considering he’s replacing one of India’s most successful white-ball leaders.
“There is a leadership change; Gill will lead in both formats now. This is a big opportunity but a huge responsibility too. He has to take forward Virat’s legacy in Test cricket and Rohit’s legacy in white-ball cricket. This is a challenging but exciting phase for him as he is already batting well, he will need to keep that form going,” Pathan said.
