Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should stay in the Indian team as long as they’re performing, head coach Gautam Gambhir said on Tuesday. He made it clear that he won’t be involved in picking the squad for the upcoming Test tour of England. While there’s not a lot of talk about Kohli’s future, people are still curious. Gambhir emphasized that it’s not a coach’s job to select players; that’s up to the selectors. The coach only decides who plays in the matches. Neither I nor my predecessors were selectors, he noted while speaking at the ABP News’ ‘India At 2047’ Summit.
When asked directly about Rohit and Kohli, Gambhir responded, As long as they perform, they should be in the team. When to start or end your career is a personal choice. No coach or selector can tell you when to retire. If you’re doing well, why stop at 40? You could keep playing until you’re 45, if you want.
India will head to England for five Tests starting June 20. While he didn’t say much about their long-term futures, he was a bit more upbeat about their chances of playing in the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa. Their selection will depend on how they perform, he added.
Both players faced some tough criticism for their performance during the Test tour of Australia, but they did fairly well in the Champions Trophy, which Gambhir acknowledged. Everyone saw how they did in the CT, he said.
He also dismissed the idea of planned farewells, stating that no cricketer thinks about a grand send-off. Instead of focusing on farewells, let’s remember how they contributed to wins for the country, he commented. Whether they get a farewell or not isn’t what matters. If they’ve contributed to the nation, that’s a good enough send-off. There’s no bigger trophy than the love from your fellow countrymen. Farewells aren’t what cricketers care about.