NEW DELHI: Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin threw his support behind Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohlisaying that the two senior batsmen cannot simply be dropped if they still want to play for India. Ashwin’s comments came after Rohit silenced retirement talk with a brilliant century in the third and final ODI against England at Lord’s. Although India lost the match by 27 runs and the series 2-1, Rohit’s 138 reminded everyone why he remains one of India’s greatest scorers. Speaking on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat, Ashwin said: “‘Rohit Sharma aur Virat Kohli ko touch nahi kar payenge (They can’t touch Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma). They can’t touch Virat and Rohit if they want to play. It’s because of their credentials. Rohit has scored almost 12,000 runs.”.Ashwin said there was another major reason why the two stars are difficult to leave out.“The other thing is that they can’t touch because they are boats. They have an army, a battalion. People come to see. If you lower them, it will just break the roof.”Ashwin also said that bowlers do not get the same level of public support as star batsmen.“But if Shami, Siraj or Bhuvneshwar are not selected, 10 people will question. 100 people, 1000 people, maybe 10,000 people will question. But they will not make noise. If a day comes when people would make noise for bowlers, it would be difficult to leave them too.”
Rohit responds to critics with Lord’s century
Rohit’s place in the ODI side came under intense scrutiny after reports claimed that the BCCI selection committee was not considering him for the 2027 ODI World Cup.The India captain had scores of 11 and 26 in the first two ODIs against England before producing a stunning knock in the series decider.Chasing 388 at Lord’s, Rohit smashed 138 off just 110 balls, hitting 17 fours and five sixes. He kept India’s chase alive almost till the end, though the visitors eventually fell to 27 runs.
“The noise will be here”
After the match, Rohit made it clear that the speculation about his future has never affected him.In an interview with BCCI.tv, he said that external criticism has always been a part of his career and that his only focus is to perform for India.“Look, my job is with the bat… Representing my country… That’s what I have to do. The noise… Ever since I made my debut, I was there and till the time I stay here, it will always be there. So it doesn’t matter much. What matters is what I do on the field,” said Rohit.