Mumbai: There have been fleeting glimpses of Ro-Ko, as their army of social media followers have dubbed them over the last few months. At family outings, endorsement shoots, and the odd awards night appearance. It’s only through the ubiquitous mobile camera that we know that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have also been training for further cricket.
The last time Rohit, 38, and Virat, 36, played in India colours was at the Champions Trophy seven months ago. They then featured in IPL, but for four-and-a-half months since then they haven’t played any competitive cricket. Such long periods of inactivity are inevitable since both have retired from T20s and Tests, and are available only for ODI cricket. It’s a path less travelled and they run the risk of being found rusty and unprepared.
Come Sunday at the Perth stadium, we will know if the 11 kilos Rohit has lost on the treadmill and the workouts Kohli has done in his new home abroad has been ideal build-up. It may help that they have done it 273 (Rohit) and 302 (Kohli) times (their ODI caps) before. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar, after picking them for the three-match ODI series in Australia, only said “we will know”.
“There is no doubt about their quality as players. Whether not playing a lot of cricket makes a difference, one should ask them and we will find out when they play, but it doesn’t happen too many times, and even if it happens, a lot of the guys these days end up playing either Test cricket or T20 which obviously in terms of matches is a lot more than one-day cricket,” said Agarkar. “So, whether it is a challenge or not, we will find out and they probably will be better equipped to answer that.”
{{/usCountry}}“There is no doubt about their quality as players. Whether not playing a lot of cricket makes a difference, one should ask them and we will find out when they play, but it doesn’t happen too many times, and even if it happens, a lot of the guys these days end up playing either Test cricket or T20 which obviously in terms of matches is a lot more than one-day cricket,” said Agarkar. “So, whether it is a challenge or not, we will find out and they probably will be better equipped to answer that.”
{{/usCountry}}It’s a question BCCI is known to have asked the two former captains, on how they would cope sticking to only 50-over cricket – a format now being played less frequently, on the lowest rung of priority and therefore less structured. Both said they want to play on, and know they are being judged.
It can happen, and only Rohit and Kohli can say if they felt out of place taking their place in the team bus again, and the flight to Perth on Wednesday morning with the Indian team, which has become more youthful over the past few months.
Kohli would know. He was there when then captain MS Dhoni summed up the dressing room mood, to have gone from “Kishore Kumar to Sean Paul” during the last transitional phase of Indian cricket in 2012.
By the looks of it, Kohli still wants to be there. One can only presume, but by walking into the sunset in Test cricket on a low, it may have been to preserve oneself for ODI cricket, a format the run machine has aced through his career. A flourishing finish cannot be anything less than another World Cup.
Similarly for Rohit, who has never been a ODI World Cup winner. But their dreams and ambitions need to align with the team’s needs. Yashavi Jaiswal is waiting for his time. Abhishek Sharma is also in contention for an opening berth. Tilak Varma and many others are in line for a break at the No.3 spot.
“Look, the 50-over World Cup is still two-and-a-half years away, and I think it is very important to stay in the present,” Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, said on Tuesday.
Picking formats
Given cricket’s haphazard schedule, players picking and choosing formats isn’t uncommon. Over the last year, it has in fact become a trend. But players give up ODI cricket first. Like Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell did to free themselves to play T20s round-the-year. Or Steve Smith did to focus on Tests. In Nicholas Pooran and Heinrich Klaasen’s case, they gave up all forms of international cricket.
Judging players only on ODI action can become challenging for the selectors. Elite players can even begin to feel undercooked, like perhaps Quinton de Kock did – he recently returned from ODI retirement. But de Kock is only 32, with a long career ahead.
After the Australia series (3 ODIs, 5 T20Is), India play six more ODIs in the next three months. After that they again break away from the format for six months. It’s a tricky path of staying in rhythm, a period in which both the batting greats might run out of form, fitness, or even motivation. To stay the course, they would have to turn up for their state teams in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Or even consider playing 50-over cricket for English Counties.
It may not even come down to that if the Australia tour does not go to plan. “I mean, what they have been doing for years here, try and score runs, I don’t think that changes,” Agarkar said when asked what is expected of the duo. “The team is picked for Australia and we need them to score runs like they have been through their career.”