ODI World Cup is still 2.5 years away, need to stay in present: Gambhir on Rohit, Kohli future

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are keen on playing the 2027 ODI World Cup but India head coach Gautam Gambhir was non-committal over the star duo's future on Tuesday, saying the ODI World Cup is still more than two years away and "it is important to stay in the present".

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With Shubman Gill's appointment as the ODI skipper, the national selectors have already hit the transition button in ODI cricket and there is a lot of doubt over the future of the ageing stalwarts who will be 39 (Kohli) and 40 (Rohit) respectively in 2027.


"The 50-over World Cup is still two and a half years away. It is very important to stay in the present. Obviously they are quality players. They are coming back. Their experience is going to be valuable in Australia.

"Hopefully those two guys can have a successful tour, and more importantly, as a team we can have a successful series," Gambhir said when asked about the future of the two former skippers.

It is believed that a lot will depend on how the duo plays in the nine ODIs in the next couple of months (3 vs Australia, 3 vs SA and 3 vs NZ).

In the past one year, the Indian team has undergone transition across all formats under Gambhir's coaching.

When asked what are the attributes he is looking for when he wants to blood a player in the national team, Gambhir presented his checklist.

"First and foremost, you look at talent. Then you look at the work ethic. You look at the characters in that dressing room, especially in red-ball cricket.

"You look at what they bring on the table, apart from the amount of runs and wickets they do, I think how hungry they are. And if you've got all those attributes, you will definitely have a successful Test career."

With so much of competition for slots, Gambhir feels that international cricket is an "insecure environment".

"For me, giving them a longer run is very, very important because as we all know that international cricket is a very insecure environment because only 15 players can go on to represent the country and there are so many people waiting for their opportunity.

"So make sure first you pick the right characters and then if you see that, try and give them a longer run so that they themselves should be content and happy that they've got a longer run rather than just chopping and changing as well."

Personally, Gambhir has an aversion towards the word "dropping" and he feels emotional when a worthy player misses out on a national team berth.

"Sometimes it's difficult as a head coach and a team management where you will have to sometimes leave out players. I don't like using this word, dropping players because you don't drop players, you only select players."

"When a player is left out, the least a coach can do is be empathetic and not ruthless."

For Gambhir, the Test squad that went to England was superb in terms of its work ethic and ticked all the right boxes.

"So for me, I think that is something which is exceptionally important and these guys have done their bit, especially on the England tour, the kind of work ethic they had shown. For me, that was a huge tick."