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: Uncertainty might still be shrouding Rohit Sharma's future in ODIs, but his early mentor Lalchand Rajput believes that the former India captain is "good enough to play for couple of years", attributing the current struggles to natural "wear and tear" of two decades of cricket. The debate over Rohit's place in India's plans intensified after reports suggested that chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir had informed the veteran opener that he was not in the roadmap for the 2027 ODI World Cup. The speculation, however, was quickly dispelled by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia. "I don't believe in speculation. Unless it happens, then only we can talk about that. I still feel he is good enough to play for a couple of years," Rajput, who first watched Rohit as a youngster at the National Cricket Academy (now BCCI Centre of Excellence), told PTI. "He is fit and has worked hard on his fitness. If you look at him now, he looks leaner. The way he batted in the last game, h
Legendary Kapil Dev asserted that even stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are not a "certainty" in the Indian team but the veteran batters should be given a chance as long as they are performing. Rohit, 39, and Kohli, 37, are at the fag end of their storied careers, but the former found himself in a pressure situation after two lowly outings against England in the ongoing three-match ODI series. "Certainty is never ever applied to anybody. Whoever keeps performing, keeps playing. It doesn't matter (who he is). I would say, you keep watching the performance and let them play as much as they can," Kapil told PTI during an interaction at the Kapil Dev Sunil Gupta Hospital here. Kapil said selectors and team management are best placed to take a decision on such senior players. "Even Sachin Tendulkar had a lot of cricket left in him (when he retired). Let the selectors do that job. I'm not going to say who's dropped. It's the selectors' and the team management's job. I'm assess
Former India captain Anil Kumble is quite impressed with how Rohit Sharma has started the new IPL season for Mumbai Indians and he expects the opener's "2.0 avatar" to worry rivals throughout the ongoing edition. The 38-year-old Rohit smacked a 38-ball 78 in MI's six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL opener here on Sunday. "Rohit Sharma seems to have arrived in his 2.0 avatar, and his innings showed he is ready to dominate again. The way he hit the ball all around the ground reminded me of his prime," Kumble said on 'Star Sports'. "It is not easy to hit sixes against bowlers like Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Blessing Muzarabani, but he made it look easy. He has worked a lot on his fitness, and when you come back after a short break, it takes five to seven days to get your timing back and find your rhythm. "This was a fantastic innings...The six-hitting looked easy, and even though the boundaries were small, those shots were going into the stands. This knock
Former captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday hoped that India's men's and women's teams will build on their momentum of winning T20 and 50-over World Cup respectively, and will fetch more laurels to the country in future. India have recorded a string of wins in ICC events from the time Rohit led the team to T20 World Cup win in 2024. It was followed by the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side recording their maiden title win in Women's ODI World Cup in 2025, a year in which the women's U-19 team also clinched the global T20 title. India began 2026, bagging the U-19 ODI World Cup for a record sixth time whereas the Suryakumar Yadav-led seniors became the first to win the T20 World Cup for a record third time last Sunday. "I am very happy and very proud to see what we have been seeing for the last couple of years now," Rohit, the face of the T20 Mumbai League, said during the announcement of the fourth edition for men and inaugural iteration for women here. "To come out with flying colours and achie