'Can't judge form or fitness of...'- Former selector makes stunning claim on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's selection for Australia ODIs

The former chief selector of the Indian side, Dilip Vengsarkar, has failed to understand on which basis the former captains, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, were picked by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia down under. Neither played any comparative cricket since the end of IPL 2025.

Both Rohit Sharma and Virat retired from the shortest and longest formats of the game in a span of a year and have the sole focus of being part of the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Vengsarkar claimed that playing one format would be incredibly difficult for any player.

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“Rohit and Virat have been great players over the years, but if you are playing just one format of the game, I believe the selectors need to take a call on this. I feel you cannot know or judge the form and fitness of such players because they’ve had a long layoff after the last game they played. It’s very difficult to assess their form and fitness.” Vengsarkar expressed.

Dilip Vengsarkar surprised at Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s selection for Australia ODIs

There are, however, question marks if both Rohit and Kohli would feature in the upcoming 50-over World Cup, as Vengsarkar wonders if the selectors would continue to back the veterans or give their spots to players who are active across formats.

“Rohit and Virat have possibly been picked because of their great records. They have been great players and have done yeoman service to Indian cricket, having won many matches in all formats of the game. But since they have not been playing Test match cricket as well as T20s, and are playing only one format, one-day matches, which is not very often played during the season, it’s very difficult to gauge their form and fitness.” The former selector addressed.

“It’s really up to the selectors whether they want to stick with Rohit and Virat or look ahead and give opportunities to those players who are available for all formats of the game. It depends on how they look at Indian cricket going ahead.” Vengsarkar concluded.