BCCI’s 2027 World Cup plans for Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma face strong pushback with warning of catastrophic outcome

A former BCCI selector has urged the board and the team management to make Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma the core of India's 2027 World Cup squad.

Based on the multiple press conferences Gautam Gambhir has addressed, one thing is crystal clear: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, despite their impressive outings in Australia and against South Africa, are not guaranteed picks for the 2027 World Cup. With 22 months still left for the ICC event in South Africa, a lot can happen between now and then. Kohli and Rohit, who would be 39 and 40 by then, could face numerous obstacles, including form, fitness, and, most importantly, hunger. While it’s no rocket science that both are fiercely motivated to win the only trophy they haven’t lifted together, time waits for no one. Gambhir's repeated insistence on the need to live in the present indicates that the BCCI is not leaving anything to chance.

Can Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma last the distance? (PTI)

However, the board has received a strong pushback regarding their plans for Kohli and Rohit. Devang Gandhi, a former selector with the BCCI, believes that Kohli and Rohit should be the core of the squad participating in the 2027 World Cup, with the rest of the team revolving around them. The urge to win the ODI World Cup is greater than ever before – India haven’t won it since 2011 – and after the heartbreak of the 2023 World Cup final, course correction is a must.

“As long as Kohli and Rohit are around, the planning has to revolve around them. The management must stick to a pool of not more than 20 players now. Leading up to the 2019 World Cup, no one was given enough chances to settle down at No. 4. When the top order imploded in the semifinal, no one was ready. The same happened in the 2023 World Cup, when the team management was forced to play Suryakumar Yadav, who didn’t have a good ODI record,” Gandhi told TOI.

Where is the middle/lower order?

Gandhi’s statements carry weight. Besides Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and to a certain extent KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, none of the Indian batters has been able to cement a place in the XI. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal registered their maiden ODI centuries last week, but they are far from being guaranteed starters in the team. With a player like Rishabh Pant struggling to make it to the Playing XI, and someone of Shreyas Iyer’s calibre out injured and waiting to come back, Gandhi wants a more streamlined roadmap, else warns the repercussions could be catastrophic.

“As long as Kohli and Rohit are around, the planning has to revolve around them. The management must stick to a pool of not more than 20 players now. Leading up to the 2019 World Cup, no one was given enough chances to settle down at No. 4. When the top order imploded in the semifinal, no one was ready. The same happened in the 2023 World Cup, when the team management was forced to play Suryakumar Yadav, who didn’t have a good ODI record,” Gandhi said.