Rohit Sharma will continue playing Tests and ODIs ‘for a while’

Dallas (USA), July 15

India captain Rohit Sharma will continue to play Test and ODI cricket “at least for a while” after ending his T20 International career with a World Cup win last month.

Rohit has been on a break since the title win in the West Indies and is set to miss the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka later this month, which includes three ODIs.

“I just said it. I don’t look that far ahead. So clearly, you will be seeing me play at least for a while,” the 37-year-old said at an event here on Sunday night.

Earlier this month, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had confirmed that Rohit will captain India in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle and the Champions Trophy next year in February-March.

Gradual transition: Rathour

New Delhi: Outgoing batting coach Vikram Rathour knows that a tough transition period awaits India in the near future but having worked with the available talent pool, he feels the side is well-equipped to handle the phase. While Virat Kohli and Rohit will still play ODIs and Tests for now, India will have to grapple with the transition phase in another couple of years when they move towards the last phase of their respective careers.

“It is never going to be easy to replace people of Rohit and Virat’s calibre,” Rathour said. “The recently-concluded series against Zimbabwe gave us some glimpse into how the T20 team will look like in future. But we still have a few years in Test and ODI cricket to get to that point,” said one of the key members of Rahul Dravid’s coaching team.

Having also served as a national selector, Rathour has an inside view of the talent pool. “We have a lot of depth in Indian cricket. There are lots of very talented and skilful players who are coming through the system. The only thing we need to make sure is the transition is done in a controlled manner. It needs to be gradual,” he said.

He feels that by the time Rohit and Kohli bid adieu to all formats, the younger stars would be well-settled, forming the nucleus for the next 10 years. “I am hoping that by then, players like Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Yashasavi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel to name a few, would establish themselves and will make the transition smooth. In ODIs also, we have experienced players like Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya to take over,” he said.