Many fans of the Indian cricket team, and especially Rohit Sharma, are curious whether he will play for India in the next World Cup in 2027.
Rohit Sharma is currently 37 years old. Although his captaincy has been a positive for India, with a winning percentage of over 70% in ODIs under his leadership, the biggest thing is that he is a leader and an opening batsman who plays fearless and selfless cricket.
So, everyone wants an experienced and talented batsman and leader like him to play in the 2027 World Cup, but by then he will be 41 years old. So, what will be his contribution to the team?
Will he remain captain until then? It is all a matter of speculation, and it does not seem likely that Rohit Sharma will be able to play cricket until then. But here are three big reasons why he might not play in the 2027 World Cup.
1. Increasing age and fitness
The 2027 Cricket World Cup will be played in October-November in South Africa. By then, Rohit Sharma will be 41 years old. Whether he will be able to maintain his peak fitness at that age remains a big question. Also, Rohit Sharma is not one of the players who are known for their fitness.
Faf du Plessis, who is almost 40 years old and 3 years older than Rohit Sharma, has already retired from international cricket, but is still extremely fit. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, seems to be struggling a bit on the fitness scale.
So, it seems likely that he may not play for the Indian team by the 2027 World Cup, which means he will not be part of the tournament either.
2. Youngsters will get a chance
As everyone knows, Rohit Sharma is one of those players who is very selfless and does not play cricket for himself. He encourages youngsters and backs them to play good cricket, get exposure to international cricket at a young age and do well for the team.
Because every cricket team needs a new mindset, and only young batsmen and young bowlers can inject that into the team. So, Rohit Sharma would definitely want a young player to take his place in the team and India has some great names like Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Shubman Gill is another great option and Prabhsimran Singh playing for Punjab has impressed with his potential. So, Rohit Sharma would also want these young players with immense talent and who will also gain a lot of experience by then to be part of the World Cup.
3. Perhaps Rohit Sharma in another role at Cricket World Cup 2027
It is also possible that we will not see Rohit Sharma playing for the Indian team in the 2027 World Cup, but perhaps he will contribute to the team in some other capacity. He could become a great batting coach, assistant coach or team mentor.
His experience, his approach, which is quite relaxed, and his fearless cricket philosophy and ability to handle pressure suggest that he could join the Indian cricket team as a good coach and leader. And perhaps there is still hope that we will see him in a different role in the 2027 Cricket World Cup.
Shane Warne had written a great thing in his autobiography, saying that before someone asks you why aren’t retiring, you should retire when they ask “Why are you retiring?”
This applies to every player. You have also seen it. South Africa’s Quinton de Kock played his last match in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, even though he had a lot of cricket left in him.
Similarly, Marcus Stoinis was not seen in the Australian team for the upcoming T20 World Cup, but he supported the fact that he was happy that the young players were being given a chance. This story is endless. You see, Eoin Morgan, who felt that he was not able to play for the team, immediately passed on the torch and Jos Buttler became the captain.
There are many foreign players who had a lot of talent and experience, but all of them retired over time. The main reason for this was that they did not want to play cricket under pressure.
So here too, Rohit Sharma’s thinking should be the same. However, the fans would like him to play in the 2027 Cricket World Cup and Indian players are known to play cricket for a long time. Mahendra Singh Dhoni played cricket till the age of 39 and Sachin Tendulkar played cricket till the age of 41. You will not find such stories in foreign cricket teams.
