Former India cricketer Saba Karim was highly critical of Rohit Sharma's selection for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia. He was also not in favour of Rohit being stripped off captaincy despite having led the team to the Champions Trophy title earlier this year. Karim feels that the selection committee isn't considering Rohit for the 2027 ODI World Cup and that is why have taken away the leadership duties from him and have given them to Shubman Gill.
“Team mein aap kyon rakh rahe hain? Agar woh captain nahin hain to phir ek baat saaf hai na ki aap unka future dekh nahi rahe ki wo 2027 ke World Cup mein rahenge, to phir aap aise khiladi ko team mein nahin rakhiye jo aapko lagta hain ki 2027 mein aapke hisaab se maujood nahin rahenge," Karim said on the YouTube channel Kadak. (Why are you keeping him in the team? If he is not captaining, then it is clear that you don’t see his future. You don’t feel that he will be a part of the 2027 World Cup. So, don’t keep a player whom you don’t feel would be a part of the 2027 World Cup.)
Rohit returns to international cricket
Rohit will be making his much-awaited return to international cricket in the series against Australia that is set to commence from October 19. The 38-year-old, who was last seen donning the Indian jersey during the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in March, is now only active in one-day cricket and is likely to be seen in action in the ODI series against South Africa as well that will begin from November 30.
Kohli to also feature in the series
Alongside Rohit, Virat Kohli will also be seen in action in the upcoming Australia ODIs. These matches will be heavily important for the duo as India don't play many ODIs so they won't be able to have too much game-time until the 2027 World Cup. They have no choice but to make each and every match count.
India's squad for Australia ODIs: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.