Former India spinner R Ashwin said that the team management cannot drop senior stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as long as they are committed to ODI cricket.
Ashwin’s comments came shortly after India’s ODI series in England was decided on Sunday at Lord’s, where Rohit banished questions of his retirement with his 34th century in the format, albeit in a losing cause. The 39-year-old Rohit led a steep 388 chase with an 84-ball century that he converted to a score of 138, making it the first century by an Indian man at Lord’s.
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Ashwin highlighted the massive fan bases and popularity of both Rohit and Kohli, claiming that dropping the duo from the format would spark a huge uproar among the masses.
“They cannot touch Virat and Rohit if they want to play. It is because of their credentials. Rohit has scored almost 12,000 runs; they cannot touch him. The other thing is that they are batters, and if you touch them, they have an army. People come to see them. If you drop them, it will just break the roof down,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin also hailed Rohit’s knock under pressure after a lean run of eight innings this year without a substantial contribution.
“This is a phenomenal knock. He was set after hitting that pull to Josh Tongue. I feel that this is Rohit’s road to a comeback after an injury. If he were in a slightly better state or were more confident, he could have scored 180 and won the match for the team. I felt like Rohit was in really good form.
“The position he is in and the way he batted, it’s not that difficult for him. We have seen him for so many years; there’s nothing left to prove. Whom does he have to prove? It is only about the internal appetite: I want to go to the World Cup, that’s why I need to play like this,” Ashwin added.
