Ashwin Calls for Clarity on Rohit, Kohli Ahead of 2027 ODI World Cup
New Delhi — Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned the uncertainty surrounding the ODI futures of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, urging selectors and team management to provide the veteran batters with clear plans ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
Reports have suggested that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee may move on from Rohit after the third and final match of India’s ongoing ODI series at Lord’s in London on Sunday. The series is tied 1-1.
Ashwin said that if the selectors, coaches and captain have already decided that Rohit and Kohli will not be part of the World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, that decision should have been communicated soon after India won the Champions Trophy in March 2025.
“Yashasvi Jaiswal is pushing hard from behind. But if, as a selector, coach, captain or whoever the decision-maker is – if you’ve already decided in your mind that these players are not going to the 2027 World Cup, and you don’t want them… then that should have been communicated immediately after the Champions Trophy. I know it’s a double-edged sword,” Ashwin said on his YouTube show Ash Ki Baat.
Ashwin acknowledged that no player would react positively to being told that the team intended to move forward without him. However, he said direct communication would at least allow senior players to understand where they stand.
“If you go and tell players that you want to move on from them, no player will feel good about it. Even if the selectors or the coach had come to me in Australia and said, ‘We want to move past you. We’re done with you.’
“I would also have felt bad. I’d think, ‘One bad series… is that enough? Every player is allowed one poor series.’ That’s how every player would feel. But once it’s done, you can at least say, ‘Okay… the communication was clear,’” he said.
Ashwin also questioned why uncertainty over the two players’ futures had continued with the World Cup drawing closer.
“Maybe it has already happened in Rohit’s case. Maybe it has happened in Virat’s case. Virat has been excellent. Rohit has been more than decent. So why have we allowed this to drag on until August 2026… …when there are only 10-12 months left before the 2027 World Cup in South Africa? Why has it come this far? That’s my only question,” he said.
Ashwin warned that players who feel unwanted within a team environment could struggle to perform at their best and begin to question their place in the squad.
“If either of those two players doesn’t feel wanted, two things will happen. First, they cannot perform at their best. Second, they will start feeling low about themselves for simply being there. Think about it once.
“If you’re in a house where people don’t want you to stay, can you really live comfortably in that house? We’re going to South Africa in September-October. Do we need Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma? If you ask me, I would want that experience,” Ashwin said. (Source: IANS)
