Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh’s shares a bold message for BCCI on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
After India’s dominant showing in the ODI series against South Africa, former spinner Harbhajan Singh has thrown his weight behind Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup. Harbhajan believes the two senior batters should be ‘first two names’ on the team sheet given their recent form. Both players delivered standout performances in the series – Rohit Sharma struck brilliant half-centuries in the first and third ODIs, while Virat Kohli smashed consecutive centuries in Ranchi and Raipur before adding a fluent fifty in Visakhapatnam.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh urged the Indian team management – led by head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar – to value experience as much as fresh talent. He cautioned that prioritizing youth at the cost of seasoned players ‘lose experience in the pursuit of youth’ could hurt India in high-pressure games.
“Are there bigger and better players than Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli? So you shouldn’t sideline them, but instead think about how to build the team around them. If you lose experience in the pursuit of youth, then it can be a problem from time to time in big matches. So they must play, and this will be a big World Cup because after that, it’s possible they’ll never play another World Cup,” he said.
“The way Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are batting, and how the batting order looks with them, it looks so solid that they should play. They will maintain their fitness. But the questions about whether they will or should play the World Cup, it is okay to look towards the younger players but do not ignore the players who are already proven performers with the ability to deliver in big matches,” Harbhajan said.
“In the last World Cup also, they missed it in the final, with the pitch being very slow. If there was a better pitch, India would have won. There was a lot of pressure, which is why Australia played better than India and won. But the way India played under Rohit Sharma was unbelievable. So the first two names should be Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and the rest of the team should be formed after that,” the former Indian spinner said.
With 302 runs at an average of 151.00, a strike rate of over 117, two hundreds and a fifty, Virat Kohli finished as the series highest run-scorer. Rohit Sharma also impressed, scoring 148 runs in three innings at an average of 48.66 and a strike rate of over 110, including two half-centuries.
The ‘Ro-Ko’ duo finished as India’s top two run-scorers in ODIs this year. Virat Kohli scored 651 runs at an average of 65.10 in 13 innings, including three hundreds and four fifties, with a top score of 135 and a strike rate of over 96. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, accumulated 650 runs in 14 innings at an average of 50.00 and a strike rate of over 100, registering two hundreds, four fifties, and the highest score of 121*.
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