Harbhajan Singh slams critics questioning Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s ODI future

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh expresses his disappointment that the futures of cricket legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are being determined by people who have not achieved much in the sport. However, he predicts that both players will continue their careers until the 2027 ODI World Cup. The 38-year-old Rohit and the 37-year-old Kohli are currently solely focused on the ODI format and there is significant speculation about their ability to last until the World Cup in South Africa, especially with the reduced ODI calendar around the world.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar remained uncertain about the future of the two players but both gave strong signals that they were determined to retain their positions.

Harbhajan, who is part of the expert commentary panel in the ongoing DP World ILT20 Season 4, said during an interaction: “This is beyond our understanding. I may not be able to answer because I am a player too and what I saw happened to me too. It happened to most of my teammates but it is very unfortunate. We do not talk about it or discuss about it.”

“I feel very happy when I see a player like Virat Kohli who is still going strong. It’s a bit unfortunate that these people who haven’t achieved much are deciding about their future,” he added.

With more than a year to go before the start of the World Cup, Harbhajan expressed confidence that Rohit and Kohli will perform exceptionally well throughout the tournament and set the standards for future players. While Kohli recently scored back-to-back centuries at home in the ongoing series against South Africa, Rohit, a fitter player, notched two fifties and a score of 121 in his last four innings.

“They’ve always scored runs and they’ve always been great players for India, they’ve done extremely well as batsmen and they’ve been leaders of the team. I’m very happy for them, they’re going very, very strong.”

“Not just being strong but also setting the example for the younger generation to follow and what it takes to be a champion. Congratulations to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for setting the right example,” the 45-year-old added.

India’s recent struggles in domestic tests have stunned cricket analysts.

Since Gambhir took over, India have suffered five defeats in the last seven home tests, including the last 0-2 series defeat against South Africa, their first home series defeat against the Proteas in 25 years.

Harbhajan pointed out that the most important problem India faces is the quality of its home pitches.

“They need to start playing on good tracks. We don’t give our batsmen a chance to score runs. When we go abroad, our batsmen have a chance to score runs because the pitch is good for batting. The bowlers have to work hard.

“So I think it is high time that the pitches built in the last 10-12 years became bowler friendly, especially spinner friendly. Spinners are bowling with the new ball. I think we have to change this trend somewhere.

“I don’t think this is the right thing to do. Our team is very solid and we played well in England. Even if we play for five days, we will win. Why are you considering playing Test cricket for two and a half days?” he asked.

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