Sunil Gavaskar's bold take on Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's futures; ‘I don't think they will be playing 2027 World Cup’

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have recently announced their retirement from Test cricket to prolong their careers and take a shot at the 2027 ODI World Cup, a trophy that eluded the Indian greats at home in 2023. While Rohit had mentioned about his availability in the ODIs in his retirement post, there was no such mention from Kohli on Monday.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have recently announced their retirement from Test cricket to prolong their careers and take a shot at the 2027 ODI World Cup, a trophy that eluded the Indian greats at home in 2023.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar offered an honest assessment of both Kohli and Rohit's futures, claiming the Indian duo will not play in the ODI World Cup in two years' time, in jointly-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

“They have been massive performers in this format of the game. Again, the selection committee will probably be looking at the 2027 World Cup. They will be looking at whether they will be able to be in the team for the 2027 World Cup?” Gavaskar told Sports Today.

“Will they be able to make the kind of contributions they have been making? That will be the thought process of the selection committee. If the selection committee thinks ‘yes, they can’ then both of them will be there for that,” added the legendary cricketer.

Asked what he personally thinks about Rohit and Virat playing in the ODI World Cup 2027, Gavaskar was brutally honest in his response. "No, I don't think they will be playing. I am being very honest.

"But, who knows, in the next year or so, if they strike a rich vein of form, and if they keep scoring hundreds and hundreds, even God can't drop them," Gavaskar added.

I'm keeping all my options open: Rohit Sharma

Earlier, Rohit had spoken about keeping his options open for the 2027 ODI World Cup. “It's very hard to say that right now - but I am keeping all my options open. I want to see how well I'm playing. Right now, I'm playing really, really well, and I'm enjoying everything I'm doing with this team, and the team is enjoying my company as well, which is nice.

"I can't really say 2027, because it's too far, but I'm keeping all my options open,” Rohit, who led India to the 2023 ODI World Cup final before losing to Australia, told ICC in an interview.