Who is excited about Ro-Ko anymore?

[putrevus]

5 minutes ago, Gollum said:

How will they manage if they are unwilling to play domestics? We hardly play 10 ODIs per year, and then IPL....not enough to keep 38 year olds sharp. 

They have to be told unless they play domestic cricket, they cannot play for Indian team.

 

It is just absurd that they can just walk into the team.If they are not willing to play domestic cricket, they should just get lost.

 

They are not bigger than the game.

[tapandrun]

5 hours ago, RajBan said:

Just because Iyer is a terrible player, it does not justify retention of Rohit and Kohli, definitely not both of them. If we are playing all of Rohit, Kohli, Iyer and KL with Jaiswal the only player in reserves that means we have serious dearth of talent. None of those 4 should be anywhere close to one day squad as they have failed to create any impact or synergy in this format.

 

Along with Jaiswal there has to be atleast 4-6 more world class batters that should be now groomed in. 

not making a case for rohit and kolhi, but telling the indecision on them has led to a difficult situation.

And mentioned this previously it has happened only once that a team with 2 player 35 yo or more have won the wc , that was Aus wih Gilchrist abd Hayden both being 35 and that was Aus's super team. And Its more likely they were acutally 35.

 

Where else both kolhi and rohit are more likely near 40 yo than 35 currently    

[pkmmamks]

Bhai is umar mein to unki khud ki family bhi excited na hogi unke liye   samjh gaye ?  

[wanted_desi]

If Rohit Fails next Inning, Jaiswal should come in for 3rd match. Rohit can be back up opener. 

[Ultimate_Game]

28 minutes ago, wanted_desi said:

If Rohit Fails next Inning, Jaiswal should come in for 3rd match. Rohit can be back up opener. 

Is Jaiswal even part of the squad?

[The Realist]

[rkt.india]

14 hours ago, putrevus said:

They have to be told unless they play domestic cricket, they cannot play for Indian team.

 

It is just absurd that they can just walk into the team.If they are not willing to play domestic cricket, they should just get lost.

 

They are not bigger than the game.

They were told that they will have to play Vijay Hazare but they will rather retire then going back to domestic.

[putrevus]

5 hours ago, rkt.india said:

They were told that they will have to play Vijay Hazare but they will rather retire then going back to domestic.

Then let them retire,they are not bigger than the game.

 

That is also the reason why Kohli never could come out of his slump in test cricket .You don’t rectify your technical issues in test cricket.

 

For a guy who always had iffy technique that was his death knell.

[lemsip]

The bottom line is that age related decline is a certainty in sport and ROKO are the point where careers naturally end in cricket. These two are not immune from age related decline  and not playing at a high level regularly and just turning up for tournaments assuming their place is assured is silly. From an India point of view, for the country with the highest pool of young players in the world to focus on two almost 40 year olds for a tournament in 2 years is also stupid. 

If they don't move on voluntarily, someone has to be ruthless and convery the blunt message.

 

Traditionally Indian players hang on till the last possible moment. Even Kapil Dev was reluctant to hang up his boots when he was even struggling to trundle and ultimately he had to be confronted with being dropped to agree to retire. Something similar might be needed here.

Edited October 20, 2025 by lemsip

[putrevus]

I don't think age has got any thing with them playing in 2027. They need to play domestic tournaments to stay fit.They cannot turn up without any matches behind them and play odis and world cup.

 

If they are fit they will score runs.This is best format for both of them.When guy like Shami is playing domestic cricket then why are these two not playing.

 

Scoring runs in domestic cricket is secondary for them.

 

Viv Richards won MOS series in last odi series he played in 1991, he was 39 then. 

[lemsip]

10 minutes ago, putrevus said:

If they are fit they will score runs.

That was my point. They are at an age where fitness for top level sport naturally declines otherwise all sportsmen would keep playing into their late 30s and early 40s. There is a reason why that doesn't happen.

Rohit has already transitioned to the physique of the traditional middle aged Indian unkill so it will be far harder for him to hold his own physically in a sport where he is playing with and against players a decade younger than him.

Kohli is generally much fitter and a bit younger but he is not practising or playing regularly so more than his physical fitness, it is the sharpness of his game which likely to fade away pretty quickly as it does for most people.

[putrevus]

2 minutes ago, lemsip said:

That was my point. They are at an age where fitness for top level sport naturally declines otherwise all sportsmen would keep playing into their late 30s and early 40s. There is a reason why that doesn't happen.

Rohit has already transitioned to the physique of the traditional middle aged Indian unkill so it will be far harder for him to hold his own physically in a sport where he is playing with and against players a decade younger than him.

Kohli is generally much fitter and a bit younger but he is not practising or playing regularly so more than his physical fitness, it is the sharpness of his game which likely to fade away pretty quickly as it does for most people.

39 is fine these days. Anderson played till 43  that too test cricket.Age and ability is not going to be factor for them.Match fitness is going to be the decided factor.

 

They have to play cricket to stay sharp.If they are not willing to do it then they don't get to play for Indian team.

 

 

[lemsip]

33 minutes ago, putrevus said:

Anderson played till 43  that too test cricket.

Anderson is a one off. He is a superb athlete and an all time great fast bowler.

Even he had to be forced off the English test setup as unlike Broad ( who quit at the top at 36) he was showing no willingness to move on and make space for younger bowlers. Ultimately the ECB told him his time was up, gave him a farewell and moved on as it was clear they needed time and space in the squad to develop younger players.

Unlike RO-KO he still plays regularly but has dropped down to county level to be able to do so. But has still plays regularly for Lancashire- very different from Indian celebrities.

In the modern game, age is definitely a factor as it is a faster, more professional game these days. Very few players above 39 have played ODIs lately - here is a list from Gemini.

Player	Team	Age (Approximate)	Role
Mohammad Nabi	Afghanistan	40 years	All-rounder
Craig Ervine	Zimbabwe	40 years	Batsman
Rohit Sharma	India	38 years	Batsman/Former Captain
Usman Khawaja	Australia	38 years	Batsman
Mushfiqur Rahim	Bangladesh	38 years	Wicketkeeper/Batsman

 

Rohit is the only one who has played against top teams recently and he will be 40 in 2027. Khawaja last played an ODI 6 years ago when he was much younger. All the others play for minnows and/or because they don't have any younger talent pushing them.

Edited October 20, 2025 by lemsip

[putrevus]

50 minutes ago, lemsip said:

Anderson is a one off. He is a superb athlete and an all time great fast bowler.

Even he had to be forced off the English test setup as unlike Broad ( who quit at the top at 36) he was showing no willingness to move on and make space for younger bowlers. Ultimately the ECB told him his time was up, gave him a farewell and moved on as it was clear they needed time and space in the squad to develop younger players.

Unlike RO-KO he still plays regularly but has dropped down to county level to be able to do so. But has still plays regularly for Lancashire- very different from Indian celebrities.

In the modern game, age is definitely a factor as it is a faster, more professional game these days. Very few players above 39 have played ODIs lately - here is a list from Gemini.

Player	Team	Age (Approximate)	Role
Mohammad Nabi	Afghanistan	40 years	All-rounder
Craig Ervine	Zimbabwe	40 years	Batsman
Rohit Sharma	India	38 years	Batsman/Former Captain
Usman Khawaja	Australia	38 years	Batsman
Mushfiqur Rahim	Bangladesh	38 years	Wicketkeeper/Batsman

 

Rohit is the only one who has played against top teams recently and he will be 40 in 2027. Khawaja last played an ODI 6 years ago when he was much younger. All the others play for minnows and/or because they don't have any younger talent pushing them.

It is a must they have to play domestic cricket.They cannot walk into Indian team.

 

If they play then Kohli is fitter than both of them so his age and fitness is not going to be a factor.

 

Khawaja is still playing test cricket and has not shown any inclination to retire. So Rohit can play odis in 40.

 

Personally I don't see both of them playing in 2027..But IMO they don't have to be pushed out. They still are best options in batting in the team.

 

 

 

 

[Gollum]

Even Djokovic can't fight Father Time. Fittest athlete in tennis history, and the undisputed GOAT, none of these cricketers compare. But despite the fitness, work ethic, clutchness, aura, he is just a fraction of a second late in reacting these days, which has made his return of serve just a normal shot which any guy in top 50 can match, something which was the most powerful weapon in the tennis world. He can compete somewhat better on slow as molasses HCs, clay (he beat Alcaraz in the Olympic final last year) but on faster courts, no chance. 

 

What makes people think guys like Rohit, Kohli will do something which even Djokovic can't? On pacy, bouncy RSA pitches, 40 year olds don't have a good track record historically speaking (even a master technician like Kallis called it quits at 37)....you can get away with slightly lower reflexes in slow, low SC pitches because the nature of the surface gives you some extra time, in highveld venues, even if pitch is a patta, ball will fly. 

Edited October 20, 2025 by Gollum

[putrevus]

13 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Even Djokovic can't fight Father Time. Fittest athlete in tennis history, and the undisputed GOAT, none of these cricketers compare. But despite the fitness, work ethic, clutchness, aura, he is just a fraction of a second late in reacting these days, which has made his return of serve just a normal shot which any guy in top 50 can match, something which was the most powerful weapon in the tennis world. He can compete somewhat better on slow as molasses HCs, clay (he beat Alcaraz in the Olympic final last year) but on faster courts, no chance. 

 

What makes people think guys like Rohit, Kohli will do something which even Djokovic can't? On pacy, bouncy RSA pitches, 40 year olds don't have a good track record historically speaking (even a master technician like Kallis called it quits at 37)....you can get away with slightly lower reflexes in slow, low SC pitches because the nature of the surface gives you some extra time, in highveld venues, even if pitch is a patta, ball will fly. 

Tennis is different sport. Novak is still good enough to reach semi finals and beating 99% of the players on the tour, he is just  not able to overcome two or three players.

 

Rohit and Kohli can just do what Novak is currently doing and it will more than enough to help their team.

 

 

[lemsip]

27 minutes ago, putrevus said:

Rohit and Kohli can just do what Novak is currently doing and it will more than enough to help their team.

 

The difference is that India has a huge pool of talented and hungry young players needing opportunities. Those players are fighting for a place in domestic cricket while ROKO are coasting on past laurels and assuming they can walk into the team when they want.

2 years is more than enough time for a few of those to develop and cement their places in the ODI team. It makes no sense to aim for a 2027 team with 2 38-40 year old batsmen given the resources at India's command. Far better for the long term health of the team that they try with youngsters rather than succumb to the myth that the only way to win is to go in with a dad's army squad.

[Chaos]

@Kothili aka kothi, i know ur secret love for kohli