Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 3 (ANI): Following the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) review meeting in Mumbai on Thursday, board Secretary Devajit Saikia backed former captain Rohit Sharma, highlighting his consistent performances and recent 138-run knock against England while dismissing speculation surrounding the veteran batter’s retirement.
Saikia stated that he did not want to provide further fuel for speculation. Rohit Sharma’s road to the 2027 ODI World Cup has come under scrutiny in recent times, with the veteran batter nearing the age of 40.
Now an exclusively ODI player, Sharma enjoyed a productive series with the bat against England in July, despite India going down 2-1 in the three-match ODI series.
“He has been playing superbly in all the matches, so what more do you want? He scored 138 runs in the last match, so why is there any speculation? For now, I don’t want to give any fodder to the speculators," Saikia told reporters.
Despite persistent questions over whether 39-year-old Rohit Sharma can feature in the 2027 World Cup because of his age, he continued to silence critics with strong performances.
During the tour to England, it was speculated ahead of the third ODI at Lord's that the series decider at the iconic venue would be his last international match for India, having already retired from T20Is and Tests.
However, with a brutal 138 in a run-chase of 388 runs, the 'Hitman' shook off all the rust from the past few outings and proved to the world that he is not the one to be written off.
Sharma ended the England ODIs with 175 runs in three matches at an average of 58.33 and a strike rate of 98.31, with a century, a blistering 138 in 110 balls with 17 fours and five sixes during a 388-run chase in the series decider, which India lost by 27 runs.
Saikia also clarified that the meeting was not a selection meeting, but a routine discussion involving the India T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer, head coach Gautam Gambhir, Centre of Excellence (CoE) head VVS Laxman and Shubman Gill.
Saikia said they reviewed the team’s performances in England and Ireland and discussed a roadmap for the next year, with a focus on preparing India for a strong showing at the 2027 ODI World Cup.
"Today, we did not have any selection meeting. It was a routine meeting, like the ones we have every two or three months. We discussed with the head coach, VVS Laxman, who heads cricket at the Centre of Excellence, as well as our T20 captain Shreyas and our Test and ODI captain Shubman," Saikia said.
"We discussed how the team performed in England and Ireland, and also looked ahead to what we need to do over the next year. A roadmap has been prepared, and we will undertake several exercises and preparations to ensure that we have a very good performance in the 2027 World Cup," he added.
Saikia also stressed that the BCCI has mapped out India’s preparation for the 2027 ODI World Cup, with several bilateral series and the Indian Premier League (IPL) scheduled before the tournament.
He emphasised that the key objective is to finalise the best team combination by next year.
"No, we have basically thought about what our way forward should be in terms of team preparation and all. We have a lot of series coming up. We have the Afghanistan series immediately, followed by the West Indies ODI and T20I series. Then we have a crucial series against New Zealand, followed most probably by another series against Zimbabwe. After that, we have the five-Test series against Australia, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, followed by the IPL," Saikia said.
"So, we have to plan for all these series. Our main intention is to have the best possible team combination in place by next year for the ODI World Cup," he concluded. (ANI)
"He's playing superbly; why is there any speculation?" BCCI Secretary Saikia dismisses talks surrounding Rohit Sharma's retirement
