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Suresh Raina urges Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to continue playing ODIs for India to guide younger players. He also calls for Mohammed Siraj’s selection across formats.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retired from Tests and T20Is. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Suresh Raina has urged Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to continue playing ODIs for India to help out the younger generation. He believes the two senior pros need to be part of the Indian dressing room because of their experience of winning the biggest titles in the sport and ‘astute leadership’.
Raina’s comments come in light of reports claiming uncertainty over Rohit and Kohli’s future. While both have publicly hinted at their desire to play the 2027 World Cup in Africa, the BCCI’s stand is unclear. Some reports claim that the BCCI would want them to feature in the domestic 50-over tournament, the Vijay Hazare Trophy in their time away from the national team, and a failure to do so might get them dropped.
The last time such suggestions were made was for the Test format and the duo went on and called off their red-ball interantional careers within days of each other in May.
“Rohit and Virat’s experience is very important It’s crucial for the seniors to stay involved with the juniors. Shubman (Gill) has done really well, but he needs players like Virat and Rohit,” Raina told Telecom Asia Sport. “They have won the Champions Trophy, they have won the World Cups. Virat won the last IPL also. For the astute leadership they have shown during their respective careers, they need to be part of the dressing room,” he added.
Rohit and Kohli would be 40 and 38, respectively, by the time of the 2027 World Cup. The BCCI will have to judge whether they still provide enough value to the team to keep out promising youngsters.
Raina calls for all-format selection for Siraj
Impressed with his performances in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Raina also called for pacer Mohammed Siraj to be picked for India across formats.
“Siraj should be part of the Indian set-up in all three formats, given how he has performed for the country with both the white ball and red ball. He bowled 187 overs in the series and came through without any niggle,” Raina said.
Siraj is a regular in ODIs and Tests but hasn’t played much T20I cricket. It needs to be seen if he’s picked for the 2025 Asia Cup, which will be in the T20 format.
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