Is a glorious chapter in Indian cricket coming to an end? According to a PTI report, the third ODI between India and England at Lord’s on Sunday could be Rohit Sharma’s final game in international cricket, with the national selection committee unlikely to pick the white-ball great beyond the ongoing series in the UK. In his last eight ODIs, Rohit has totalled only 241 runs at an average of 30.1 and a strike rate of 88.6, with one half-century.
Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar is in Cardiff as the touring selector, and it is pretty clear that the selectors are not looking at the 39-year-old, two-time ICC trophy-winning India skipper for next year’s ODI World Cup.
“The national selectors are keen that Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored two hundreds in three innings, gets a longer rope. There are around 20 games, and Jaiswal needs to be given those 20 games.
“No one can tell Rohit to retire, but it is very clear that, going forward to the home series against the West Indies in September, the selectors would like to look ahead. Rohit’s future is a decision that he needs to take,” a senior BCCI source privy to selection matters told PTI on condition of anonymity.
What About Virat Kohli?
It must be mentioned that head coach Gautam Gambhir and Agarkar are on the same page that Virat Kohli is an automatic choice given his form and fitness, unlike Rohit.
It is understood that if Rohit is persisted with beyond the England series, there is no way that Jaiswal, the next in line, would not miss out on precious game time. It must be mentioned that the selection committee and Rohit were not on the same page when it came to his Test retirement.
While sources close to the selection committee maintained that they did not want Rohit to decide after playing two of the five Tests in England, those privy to Rohit’s version vouched that he never intended to play only two games and had made himself available for the entire series.