Former Indian batter Subramaniam Bardinath believes the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel should seal Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s places in the 2027 ODI World Cup squad. Recently, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said that duo are non-committal for the ODI showpiece, which had put doubts on their future.

However, the talismanic pair has been in rich form in the recent past and have delivered the goods consistently. While Rohit scored 202 runs in three games against Australia, Virat amassed 350 runs in three matches against South Africa. 

Kohli continued his purple patch against New Zealand in the first ODI, scoring a match-winning knock of 93 runs off 91 balls at the BCA Stadium, Vadodara on Sunday.

Badrinath said on his Instagram handle, “The 2027 ODI World Cup is coming, for which the team management should have two players already selected – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Don’t just select them, but also have their visas approved and ready. What more do they need to do performance-wise? These two are a must for India to win the World Cup. So I suggest you have these two names already written with their visas applied.”

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Kohli said his whole cricketing journey has been nothing short of a dream.

He said after he was awarded Player of the Match, “If I look back at my whole journey, then it is nothing short of a dream come true for me. I have always known my abilities, but I also knew I had to work extremely hard to get where I am today. God has blessed me with far more than I could ever ask for, I look back at my journey with a lot of grace and gratitude, and I feel really proud of it.”

The second ODI between India and New Zealand will be played at Rajkot on Wednesday.