Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has backed the veteran duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the ODI World Cup 2027. Kohli and Rohit called time on their Test careers in the middle of 2025 and announced their retirement from T20Is after the 2024 World Cup in the Caribbean.
The pair continues to play the 50-overs format and has delivered consistently for the team. Kohli scored 240 runs in three ODIs against New Zealand ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026.
Ashwin reckons the pressure is on Kohli and Rohit as the team management has shown their willingness to work with the young crop of players.
Ashwin said on ESPN Cricinfo, “This management has made it very clear that they are looking at the next generation of cricketers. They very much prefer to work with the younger guns. With that, there has been a bit of pressure on both of them.”
The former CSK spinner added that Kohli has done enough to show that he can deliver the goods in ODIs.
“It started with Virat in the ODIs in Australia. After failing in the first two ODIs, he might have been under a bit of pressure, having hung his boots from the Test format. But the way he came back from that and did what he did against South Africa, tells you what Virat will offer in the 2027 World Cup. He wants to get that World Cup,” he stated.
On the other hand, Ashwin added former skipper Rohit Sharma has also done enough to warrant his place in the team.
“Rohit Sharma doesn’t have a 50-over World Cup in his kitbag yet. So he will want yet another silverware for himself in the 2027 World Cup. He has also done enough to warrant a place,” said Ashwin (via the aforementioned source).
The former off-spinner reckons the experience of Rohit and Kohli will be crucial in the upcoming ODI showpiece.
“In an away nation like South Africa, you should extract as much experience as you can from these two. Handshaking between the experience and youth fits really well. So extracting the maximum out of both of them is critical.”
The ODI World Cup 2027 will be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.
