Former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel has weighed in on how ODI captain Shubman Gill should approach senior pros Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Notably, the two senior players will be playing under Gill in the upcoming ODI series in Australia.
The former wicketkeeper batter believes that the new ODI skipper will face no issues managing Kohli and Rohit. Parthiv Patel also emphasized the importance of domestic cricket participation ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
Parthiv believes Kohli and Rohit understand their role
“I don’t think that it will be a problem because of the kind of characters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are. You look at Virat, he became the captain when MS Dhoni was still playing. He knows what role a senior plays in grooming a new captain,” Patel said in an interview with PTI.
“Same thing was there when Rohit became the captain. Yes, Virat was not his senior but nevertheless a former skipper. Obviously, they have gone through that phase and understand the decision, which is about the betterment of Indian cricket, both of them always come across as mature. I don’t think Shubman needs to put in his energies behind managing those senior players,” he further added.
Parthiv Patel also spoke about Virat and Rohit maintaining their form with fewer bilateral ODIs in the calendar. He underlined the importance of them playing in the Vijay Hazare trophy or other domestic competitions.
“Two years is a long time, and especially if you see there aren’t too many ODI games. Like earlier times when there used to be 20-25 games a year, you get on a roll and before you know, two years passed by. But it is a different challenge, and we are also new to this kind of challenge. The challenge is to keep themselves match-fit,” he said.
He further said, “I would definitely feel they should play the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It is not about setting an example like ‘We have made Kohli and Rohit play Vijay Hazare.’ That is not how I would like to think. Playing Hazare Trophy will help their own game, and that in turn will help the Indian cricket team.”
The Australian tour will go a long way in deciding the future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the ODI format. The performance of the players and how the team gels under the new captain with the two in the combination will be assessed by the management during the series.
