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Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson lavished praise on India star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to continue leading the batting after their outing in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai. Rohit-led India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the final to win the title.
Kohli was India's second highest run-getter scoring 218 runs in five outings with an unbeaten century against Pakistan and a match-winning 84 against Australia in the semi-final. On the other hand, captain Rohit scored 180 runs, including his game-changing 76-run knock against New Zealand in the final.
Watson backed the senior duo to continue playing for India as long as they maintain the form and fitness at the top.
“Those guys are still batting incredibly well. So, Virat, how well he batted during the tournament, the runs he got, he still is the best chaser that’s ever played the game of ODI cricket. And we saw how well he’s batting. And Rohit, in the final, that was an amazing innings against the New Zealand bowling attack,” Watson told in an interaction with Hindustan Times.
He believes that Rohit and Virat's performance and energy to play for India will keep youngsters out because the duo is that good.
“… if those guys are still batting as well as they are, and they still feel the energy and the fire still burning so brightly to play for India, then absolutely, that will keep out the younger guys coming through because they’re that good,” he added.
He praised Rohit and Kohli's under pressure performance. Rohit was the standout performer in the title decider and Kohli was awarded Player of the Match for his performance against Australia in the semifinal.
“They know how to perform under pressure, like we saw in the Champions Trophy. A knockout, really, nearly a knockout tournament, and they played incredibly well, especially when the team needed it the most. If those guys want to keep playing, then it’s just the younger guys who are coming through, then they need to really bash down the door. And the only way to do that is scoring a crazy amount of runs and doing extraordinary things if they want to even try and push their way into that Indian team,” Watson remarked.
