'Hope they are there...': New Zealand great wants Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to feature in 2027 ODI World Cup

Former New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor shared his take on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's participation in the 2027 ODI World Cup. With the tournament still two years away, there have been a lot of specualtions on whether the duo of Rohit and Virat will be able to continue playing till that time or will announce their retirements before it.

Though there is no clarity on when Rohit and Virat will announce their international retirements, Taylor feels that both the batters are still quite fit and thus should feature for India in the 2027 World Cup. However, he did also remark that both of them have families and they wouldn't want to spend too much time away from them.

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"Well, you see Virat and Rohit themselves, they’re still very fit, but still scoring runs, so really it's up to them and what they want to do. It's pretty taxing on their body, playing as much cricket as they do. They’re both parents too, they’re spending a lot more time away from home and, kids. The world wants to see them there and hopefully from the world cricket point of view and the Indian cricket point of view, hope they’re both there in 2027,” Taylor said while replying to a query from India Today at Champions League T-10 Noida Trophy launch event.

Taylor had played with Kohli in IPL

Taylor also recalled his first-ever meeting with Virat which came back in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) where both of them were featuring for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. the former batter further added that he has a soft spot for Virat as he has seen him grow up from when he was a teenager.

“He was a very young 18 to 19-year-old, slightly chubby Virat Kohli. Cameron White said, ‘watch this guy? He's going to be world class’. He looked OK. But he's turned out to be a fantastic player, obviously very loyal to RCB, but also, what he's done to Indian cricket and world cricket has been fantastic. I suppose, I've always had a soft spot because I've seen him grow up from a teenager. So it's obviously it's nice for RCB to get across the line this year and finally win the IPL,” Taylor stated.

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Meanwhile, both Rohit and Virat will most likely be seen in action in India's upcoming white-ball tour of Australia which will include a three-match ODI series and five-match T20I series. The tour will begin with the one-day assignment from October 19.