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Ex-cricketer Yograj Singh urged Rohit Sharma to play for five more years and slammed critics questioning his fitness.
Rohit Sharma is still India’s ODI skipper.
(Picture Credit: X/@BCCI)
Former India cricketer Yograj Singh has urged Rohit Sharma to play international cricket for five more years because the country needs him. Yograj also slammed the India ODI skipper’s critics, saying those speaking about his fitness haven’t played cricket, but in the same breath, advised the BCCI to consider helping Rohit stay fit by all means, even if it was putting ‘four men on him’ and making him run 10 kilometres daily.
Yograj was referring to Rohit’s Player of the Match 76 (83) in the 2025 Champions Trophy final. He said the knock showed why the Mumbaikar could play till he was 45 years old. It’s a big nod of approval for the right-hander among questions on his future with the Men in Blue. He has already retired from Tests and T20Is, and there are murmurs of the BCCI looking to phase him and Virat Kohli out soon.
“The man about whom so many people speak rubbish, Rohit Sharma — I said that day that Rohit will be my man, the man, my man,” Yograj told News18 CricketNext. “The way he batted, his batting one side and the rest of the team’s batting on the other side. His innings on one side and the rest of the world on the other. That’s his class. You can say, ‘Rohit, aapki hume 5 saal aur zarurat hai yaar’ (Rohit, we need you for five more years, man) so please do more for your country, work on your fitness and everything. Put four men on him, make him run 10 kilometres every morning. He has the class to play till 45 years of age, if he wants.’
“I believe you should play domestic cricket; the more you play that, the fitter you’ll be. Who got the Man of the Match in the final? Rohit Sharma. So you should only talk about things that you know. If you want to talk about his game and fitness, do that only if you have played at some level. Do you feel ashamed for talking like this?” he added.
Rohit’s next international assignment would be a three-ODI tour of Australia in November. It could be a key time to determine how BCCI were thinking about his role in the team, and if they believed he was the right man to lead the team to the 2027 World Cup in Africa.
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
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