Age may not be on their side, but Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are busy proving they are not a spent force yet in the one international format they still call home.
Speculation has been rife about their future, yet both Kohli, 37, and Rohit, 38, show no signs of slowing down in the twilight of their illustrious careers.
Freed from the grind of test cricket and the frenzy of T20 internationals, India’s elder statesmen have focused their craft on ODIs – and the returns are emphatic.
Kohli’s last four ODI knocks – 74 not out, 135, 102 and 65 not out – tell a story of resurgence capped by a player-of-the-series award against South Africa.
Rohit, looking surefooted and leaner, has stacked four 50-plus scores in his last five outings.
Kohli explained the feeling with characteristic clarity.
“Honestly, just playing the way I have in this series has been the most satisfying thing for me,” he said after steering India to a 2-1 series victory against South Africa on Saturday.
“I don’t think I’ve played at this level for a good two to three years now, and I feel really free in my mind and just the whole game is coming together nicely.”
“I know when I can bat like that out there in the middle, it helps the team in a big way because I can bat long, I can bat according to the situation…I have what it takes to handle that situation and bring it in favour of the team.”
Their presence has enabled younger players in the squad to learn from the masters and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is among the beneficiaries.
On Saturday, Jaiswal played second fiddle in his 155-run opening stand with Rohit and then had the pleasure of watching Kohli’s flawless ball-striking from the other end as India clinically chased down a 271-run target with more than 10 overs to spare.
Jaiswal, who scored his maiden ODI hundred in the match, said his chat with Rohit helped him find balance between his natural aggression and the judiciousness that the match situation demanded.
“We have been chatting a lot about how we can play and how we can set the target and what tempo we can play,” the 23-year-old said.
Later, Jaiswal said Kohli broke down the targets for him.
“He kept giving me small targets that I need to focus on. It was helping me towards my goal as well. I really enjoyed it.”
South Africa head coach Conrad Shukri hoped his players learnt from the Indian veterans.
“For our young batters to see what the world’s best – Virat and Rohit – can do and how they go about the business, I’d like to think that we’ll take that learning with us and then grow from there,” he said.
Whether they can hang around until the 2027 World Cup remains unclear but for their legions of fans, Kohli and Rohit remain the gifts that keep on giving.
(Reuters)
