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DUBAI: India captain Rohit Sharma and superstar batsman Virat Kohli enter the Champions Trophy this week with intense focus on their dwindling powers and speculation over when they will retire.
The 37-year-old Sharma and Kohli, 36, got back among the runs to some degree in India’s 3-0 ODI home sweep of England last week.
But both have been mired in long lean patches in Tests and have already retired from T20 cricket following last year’s World Cup triumph.
Age is clearly catching up with the duo ahead of India’s first match of the 50-over Champions Trophy, against Bangladesh on Thursday in Dubai.
Neither player — both mainstays of a formidable India team for more than 15 years — has said what their plans are.
But one Indian media report, citing anonymous sources at the cricket board, said opener Sharma had been pressed to make a decision on his future by the time the tournament ends.
Sharma’s Test career already looks over, the skipper having “rested” for the decisive, final Test against Australia.
“Hopefully they know when the right time to play is,” India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev said. “When they think it is not, they will call it off.”
Following the bruising 3-1 Test defeat in Australia, India’s board ordered contracted players to play domestic cricket.
But both flopped, with Rohit scoring three and 28 in his first and second innings for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and Kohli scoring six off 15 balls for Delhi.
If the idea was to help them play their way back into form, it did not work.
Despite intense conjecture about their futures India head coach Gautam Gambhir said the two stalwarts will have “massive roles” to play at the Champions Trophy.
India, who will play their games in Dubai after refusing to visit neighbours and hosts Pakistan, are favourites to win the title for a third time.
Sharma came into the England ODIs with just 31 runs in three matches in the Australia Test series defeat.
He scored two in the first ODI against England before rolling back the years in the second with a 90-ball 119.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar was sceptical that Sharma could push on from there.
“He wanted a big hundred and he finally got it,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo. “Whether he can hit a few more... we will have to wait. I am not confident.”
Sharma then got out for one in the final match against England.
It was in that match that Kohli finally came good with his 52 — his 73rd half-century in 297 ODIs.
Kohli started tentatively before finding his groove in Ahmedabad to finish with seven fours and one six in his 55-ball innings.
No matter what happens at the Champions Trophy, the expectation in India is that Kohli will continue to play Test cricket.
Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen warned India against discarding the duo prematurely.
“You can’t write these guys off because of the aura they have when they walk out to bat,” said Pietersen in his role as a television pundit.
Pietersen said that Kohli in particular had earned the right to go out on his own terms.
“The question mark doesn’t come down to me, you, the selectors, the coaches, and the other players,” he said. “Virat Kohli can only answer the question in terms of how long he wants to continue and how much fight he has to get better and to create those high standards that everybody expects from him.”
Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2025
