‘Pissed off’ Ravi Shastri launches into emotional outburst: ‘People who want to take Rohit, Kohli out might disappear’
The former India allrounder appeared to be taking a dig at the outgoing chief selector, Ajit Agarkar who reportedly wanted Rohit Sharma out of the team.
Former India captain Ravi Shastri has fumed at the continual discussion surrounding Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma over their participation in the 2027 World Cup, such as whether they can go the distance. Former India coach Shastri also appears to be taking a dig at chief selector Ajit Agarkar, whose stint is ending early next month, and he is reportedly not willing to get another, upset that the BCCI has backed Rohit for the 2027 World Cup, totally contrary to his plans. Renowned commentator, Shastri, appears to be saying that Agarkar, out to hunt down Rohit, has ended up losing his chair.

At Star Sports, ahead of the first one-day against the West Indies in Kerala on Sunday, when Shastri was asked if he was the coach of the Indian team for the 2027 World Cup and Rohit and Virat were back as resources, how he would take the news, how excited he would be, the 64-year-old launched into an emotional outburst.
“You know what pisses me off? I'm being direct. It's this topic of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. You know that they are back. When did they ever go? And where did they go that they have to be back? The people want to take them out; they've got to watch their chairs. They might have to disappear. Don't worry about these two. They'll be there, they will play.
"And God willing, they do well today. I mean, it's a tribute to what they've done over the last decade and a half. You know, the legacy that they're going to leave behind, you know, in all probability, it will be the last World Cup they'll play.
"And, you know, they have been giants of the white-ball game. You know, make no mistake about it. They have entertained all over the world. They've been great role models for the young players coming through. And people aspire, people dream. They want to emulate great players of the past. Virat and Rohit are among them.”
The July storm!
Fans would remember that in July, ahead of the 3rd ODI against England at Lord’s, there was a media report that screamed that the upcoming game was going to be Rohit’s last as the BCCI selection committee had told him they were moving on from him as far as the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia was concerned. All hell broke loose afterwards. Anyway, Rohit made 138 in that game and has since come in heavy praise from BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia a couple of times. Apparently, this upset Agarkar, and he decided to move on from the role.
Clearly, Shastri thinks differently from Agarkar. He has coached these two players and tasted big successes with them, so of course, he has a special relationship with them. Whether he is right or wrong, decide for yourself.
ABOUT THE AUTHORPrateek SrivastavaPrateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age. In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there. After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month. Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser. While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More



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