Father Time is undefeated! This term is used for every ageing athlete. Novak Djokovic, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, has made all four quarterfinals at Grand Slams in 2025, but that’s not been celebrated much. Why? Because the 38-year-old isn’t competing just with other players but also with the past version of himself.
The clock’s ticking
His current success doesn’t hold a candle to what he was doing even 2 years ago. The same is happening with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In the last 15 months, the modern greats have retired from Test and T20I cricket. They didn’t just leave the format because they wanted to, but because better players were waiting in line.
Before the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) could pull the plug, they did. ODI cricket is all that’s left for them and for fans who wish to see them play for Team India. Reports suggest that the BCCI isn’t going to persist with them since the ODI World Cup 2027 isn’t that far away. But both have recently undergone fitness tests, Rohit in India and Kohli in England.
Rohit-Kohli can’t be asked to retire
With an ODI series against Australia on the horizon, they might even play for India A after many years. It just shows they have the will to continue and are still among the best ODI players going around without a shadow of a doubt; the Champions Trophy showed that.
But could the India vs Australia ODI series be their last? Former India batter Deep Dasgupta thinks no one has the right to tell Rohit and Kohli what to do. Retirement is a personal decision. Of course, selection isn’t. If the selectors think their performance isn’t good enough, they’ll get dropped, but no one should even think about telling them to retire.
“Nobody has got that right (to tell them to retire). We never told them to start, so we are nobody to tell them when to stop. They stop when they stop. It’s completely up to them. Yes, as far as selection is concerned, we are in a performance-oriented industry. You keep performing, you stay. There is absolutely no two ways about it. I recently saw pictures of him (Rohit); he is looking fit, he is up and running, and up for the challenge coming towards him.
So I think that’s absolutely fine; if they’re performing, it shouldn’t be any different from anyone else. Whether it’s Rohit or it’s Virat, I personally feel they both have got a few years left in them going forward. And I seriously get a little annoyed when people say, “Oh, this guy should retire.” I mean, who are we to suggest anything like that? Yeah, selection boils down to the selectors and all of that, but as long as they’re performing, it’s an absolute yes for me,” Dasgupta told RevSportz.
