Rohit Sharma is not called the Hitman for nothing. His calm ways of making lightwork of all sorts of bowling attacks, whether charged up or boisterous, speaks of such a high level of success that he’s bagged.
As a captain and purely, as a batter, has made worldwide fans, made batting all the more beautiful than it already was and has emerged as a huge icon of the game, beyond the pull of Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni.
That is some success. Won’t be incorrect to say that today if the fans rushes to the stadium to watch the Mumbai Indians in action, then more come to see Rohit Sharma than Hardik Pandya or Suryakumar Yadav. He’s the only man standing even today with three one day double centuries. And that is a feat on which world cricket marvels, not just Indian cricket alone. Having said that, he’s not getting any younger and will likely miss the bus to the 2027 World Cup squad where it comes to India.
Here are three potential players who can replace Rohit Sharma as an opener if he misses the ODI World Cup 2027
1. Prabhsimran Singh
Hardhitting and confident top order opening batter who has represented Punjab in domestic cricket could be among the three players who can replace Rohit Sharma if he misses ODI World Cup 2027.
Singh, for starters, is all of 25 and hence with a lof of time on his side. He’s already established a presence for himself in the Punjab Kings line up where it comes to the Indian Premier League and has, thus far, scored 1300 plus runs in the celebrated T20 league but most interestingly, at a strike rate of over 150.
He’s got useful white-ball exprience in overall T20 cricket with 2900 plus runs to his name at the moment. And even has he’s yet to make his debut in the Indian national team, his hardhitting talent could likely warrant him a space in the build up to the next edition of the Men’s ODI World Cup, and then a space in the team itself.
2. Ruturaj Gaikwad
A batter in the classical mould and someone, who quite frankly, possesses the KL Rahul-esque trait of combining the gift of timing with an accelarated sense of run-scoring, Gaikwad could in the times to come become one of the mainstays of the Indian national team, especially in the white ball set up.
The young lad who already slayed attacks in the famous Indian Premier League and has found a stable home in the legendary CSK unit, has played 29 international contests in an Indian shirt.
This includes six one day internationals already, from which he’s struck 115 runs.
Gaikwad, however, would do well to remember that thus far, his performances for India warrant a huge turnaround and if he’s going to strengthen his claim for the spot belonging to the legendary Rohit Sharma, then he will have to go big in what’s to come. The 2027 edition of the ODI World Cup will be India’s golden chance to go one step further than they went the last time around the celebrated tournament was held, and that too, at home in 2023.
3. Yashasvi Jaiswal
Fearless, fluent and focusd- the mind tends to actually run out of adjectives where it comes to anointing some for the great , fresh from a dogged Test match hundred in England.
As an opener, all thanks to consistent – and not-patchy performances, the gifted left hander has cemented his place in the challenging cauldron of the Indian team and where it comes to replacing a legend of the sport in Rohit Sharma in the imminent future, it could be argued, that Jaiswal seems ready.
And how can one say that?
The sublime timer of the ball has already scored north of 2000 Test match runs and is already approaching 1000 T20I runs, his run tally currently sitting next to 723 runs.
As a batter, the left hander is totally unafraid to take on the bowlers and seems set, more often than not, ready to take on any attack in the world, be it Australian or English. He’ll be such a stable addition to the Indian batting attack featuring Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul in the times to come.