3 reasons why Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli are indispensable to India’s ODI setup
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made their much-awaited return to international cricket in the ODI series against Sri Lanka. The two stalwarts of Indian cricket retired from T20Is after the T20 World Cup triumph in West Indies in June, which is why they missed the T20Is against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka played last month.
India played a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka from August 2 to 7. Initially, it seemed like the team management would rest the senior players for this series, but considering the long break between the Sri Lanka tour and home Tests against Bangladesh, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made themselves available for the three ODIs.
Quite surprisingly, India lost the ODI series by 0-2, marking the first time Sri Lanka beat the Men in Blue in a bilateral ODI series since 1997. The T20I squad seems ready for a bright future without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but here are three reasons why the star Indian batters are indispensable to India's ODI setup.
#1 Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have an enormous experience of playing ODI cricket
There is no match for experience in international cricket, and the Indian stars proved the same in the T20 World Cup which happened in USA and West Indies earlier this year.
Virat and Rohit bring an enormous amount of experience to the table, which can help the team in difficult situations. For the record, Virat has scored 13,848 runs in 280 ODI innings, recording 50 centuries and 72 half-centuries. Meanwhile, Rohit also has over 10,000 runs, and he is the only batter with three double hundreds in this format.
Such extraordinary talents can benefit the team a lot. Plus, their presence alone would put the opposition bowlers under pressure when they come to bowl.
#2 Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have phenomenal ODI numbers in almost all countries
While most of the new batters can achieve success in T20Is because of the short format's nature, the ODI format demands a little more temperament and ability to judge the conditions. Rohit and Virat have played ODI cricket all over the world in their careers.
Both batters know how to pace the game, how to take singles in middle overs, how to find boundaries when needed and how to accelerate in the slog overs. Such skills are not present in every batter's skillset, which is why the two stars are indispensable to the ODI outfit.
#3 Team India still does not have proper replacements for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in ODI cricket
One of the major reasons why Rohit and Virat retired from T20Is is that a lot of young batters were waiting in the line to take their place. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma have done exceptionally well in the IPL.
However, the same cannot be said about the ODI format, where Rohit and Virat have been supremely consistent. Very few batters from India's domestic circuit can replace the seasoned pros at the moment. One cannot imagine India's ODI team without Rohit and Virat at least for the next two years.