Former Indian opener Sadagopan Ramesh reckons the current Indian management and selectors are putting pressure on the veteran duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Shubman Gill has been handed over the ODI captaincy baton ahead of the three-match series against Australia.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar was non-committal regarding Rohit and Virat’s future for the 2027 ODI World Cup. While Rohit Sharma has amassed 11,168 runs in 273 ODI matches at an impressive average of 48.77, Kohli has aggregated 14,181 runs in 302 ODI games at a stunning average of 57.88; thus, their records speak for themselves.
Ramesh said on his YouTube Channel, “Though we can be happy that Rohit and Virat are back, they are putting extra pressure on the two. It’s like cooperates who won’t sack you directly but will put enough pressure that you quit walk away yourselves. That’s the technique the current Indian management seems to follow.”
On the other hand, the former flamboyant batter said the only good thing the selectors did was to appoint Shreyas Iyer as the ODI vice-captain.
“The only good thing they did in the selections was appointing Shreyas Iyer as the vice-captain. He has shown his captaincy skills in the IPL but he must shine as a batter in Australia, that’s really important. The other positive from the selections was the inclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the ODI squad,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).
Iyer had led Kolkata Knight Riders to glory in IPL 2024 and led Punjab Kings to the final in IPL 2025. Furthermore, the Mumbai batter also led Delhi Capitals to the final in IPL 2020.
Iyer will be seen in action in the three-match ODI series against Australia.
