The Indian men’s chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, has made his biggest decision yet: telling Rohit Sharma that he’s no longer needed in ODIs. He did the same in Tests in May 2025, but Rohit would have seen
it coming, for his form was far from the required level for a team that was going to travel to England.
It was quite easy to see the logic of the call at the time. It’s not so much anymore.
Rohit has still been in decent form. In 2025, he scored 650 runs at an average of 50 and a strike-rate of 100.46. Moreover, Rohit’s experience as one of India’s best players in almost every ICC tournament in the past ten years would have been invaluable in South Africa.
#3 Taking two 40-year-olds to a World Cup is a risk no one wants to take
Agarkar has developed an image of taking the bravest calls. So far, apart from perhaps making Shubman Gill the vice-captain in 2025, each has worked in India’s favor. That doesn’t mean he has been infallible — he deserves the blame for the dipping Test fortunes too — but he deserves reasonable support.
Even Agarkar, with all his success, wouldn’t have dared to take two nearly 40-year-olds to a World Cup. There have been only about a dozen cricketers who have played a World Cup at older than 40, and not many were successful. It’s because, despite how slow and painstaking ODI seems sometimes, it’s a format that needs quick running between wickets, sharp reflexes, and stamina.
Rohit has been good on all measures and has been clearing his fitness tests, but expecting him to continue doing it in a year from now on, knowing how rapidly atheletes’ bodies give up, it’s a huge risk. MS Dhoni was 37 when he failed to return to his crease in the 2019 World Cup semi-final — that’s enough of a reminder of how marginal this sport could be. A selector can’t be blamed for learning from it.
#2 Right time to give Yashasvi Jaiswal a chance
First of all, conveying this to Rohit before the England series, as has been reported, gives him a fair chance of a farewell at Lord’s, should he wish to retire from ODIs altogether.
But it’s also the perfect time to test out Yashasvi Jaiswal. There are at least 20 ODIs till the 2027 World Cup, and the left-hander would get a fair run to prove that he’s good enough for the marquee event. He has already shown glimpses of it, becoming the first Indian men’s cricketer to score two centuries in his first seven ODIs.
And while taking Rohit out would deprive India of some experience, Jaiswal couldn’t have asked for a better environment, which already has the same top five that played the 2023 edition. Sacrificing a bit of experience for some youthful energy is a balance that can work for India.
#1 Left-right combination
Yes, this theory is still being tested. Do left-right combinations even matter?
But they definitely do it in one sense: you can’t have too many of one. India has been burnt by having a completely right-handed top-order in overseas conditions to make the same mistake again. In South Africa, every team with a half-decent left-arm seamer and a left-arm spinner would be all over India.
Jaiswal being there would be a good deterrent, though he has much to improve against the bouncing ball himself. So, even though it might seem like a harsh decision, or could be the one that backfires badly on Agarkar, it’s not entirely bereft of logic.
