Legendary South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers has stated that there is no guarantee as to if both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will feature in ODI World Cup 2027. This comes after the Indian batting duo were recently confirmed to make their ODI comeback in the three-match series against Australia that is set to begin from October 19. However, there was a massive change in the squad as Rohit lost captaincy to Shubman Gill.
De Villiers feels that it will take a lot for Rohit and Virat to make it to the World Cup. He highlighted how both of them will need to maintain a good form in ODIs and will have to score a lot of runs so that the selectors can show faith in them for the mega tournament.
"They find themselves in the ODI side. I think that is the reason they are hanging on, to play another World Cup for Team India. It’s great to see. Whether it’s going to happen, I don’t know. Honestly? Form dependent or are they playing enough cricket? It will take a lot from them to be there in 2027. Still a long way away. It’s not that far but it’s not so close. There’s lots of cricket to be played and form to be kept. They’ve got to score runs and that should be the message from the selectors. As big as legends they are, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will walk into my team and I will play them without looking at where they’ve been or what they’ve been doing," de Villiers said on his Youtube channel.
De Villiers backs Gill to do well as ODI captain
On the other hand, de Villiers backed the selection committee over electing Gill as India's new captain in one-day cricket as not only is he a brilliant leader, but will also be able to learn a lot with both Rohit and Virat present in the team.
"It’s not a guarantee both of them will be there for that next World Cup. That’s maybe part of the thinking when they made Shubman Gill the ODI captain. He has a good chance of being there, young gun, in incredible form and a fantastic leader. I think this was the right move, to still have Rohit and Virat. Shubman Gill will learn from two of the most experienced Indian players of all time, high quality, legendary players. It will be fantastic for Shubman to have them around. It will be for the tour which is around the corner actually. So, we will be bucking up for some high-entertainment and a great series," De Villiers added.
India's white-ball tour of Australia
Meanwhile, Team India will soon be embarking on their tour of Australia that will include of a three-match ODI series and five-match T20I series. It will be quite an important assignment for the Men in Blue and they will be hoping to claim bragging rights in both the formats on Australian soil.
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.