Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been extended an offer by Abhishek Bachchan, the co-owner of the up-and-coming European T20 Premier League. Kohli and Rohit are currently active in only ODI
cricket after retiring from T20Is and Tests . Bacchan, speaking on the importance of possessing marquee Indian players, came up with a proposition for both stalwarts.
“Please tell Virat and Rohit that when they retire, they could come and play in the ETPL before any other league,” shared Bachchan while speaking to sports journalist Vimal Kumar, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Coming to more about the ETPL, the first edition of the tournament is scheduled to be played in August this year. Three teams from Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Belfast have been confirmed while three more will be added once sold. The six-team competition will be organised by Cricket Scotland, Cricket Ireland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association.
Kohli and Rohit will be 40 and 41 by the time the 2027 World Cup will conclude. Although the tournament is long away from now, the duo have expressed their interest in representing India in yet another mega event. There is no guarantee whether they will be picked for the squad, nonetheless. However, it seems highly likely that the BCCI will be keen to pick two of their most seasoned campaigners.
Kohli and Rohit have only played the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the now-defunct Champions League T20 as part of their exposure to overseas leagues. This is due to one of the diktats of the BCCI which states that a player under a BCCI contract who has also not confirmed retirement from all formats of cricket cannot participate in other leagues. This is the reason of the limited participation of Indian cricketers in overseas leagues.
