Harbhajan Singh shatters Rohit Sharma's ODI World Cup dream with brutal reality check

India National Cricket Team bowling great Harbhajan Singh has cast his doubts over the participation of the captain Rohit Sharma in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027.

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2027 will be hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in October and November 2027, and Rohit Sharma will be 40-year-old by then.

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Rohit Sharma yet to get his hands on a 50-over Cricket World Cup

India skipper Rohit Sharma was part of India's first-ever T20 World Cup win in 2007 and he also played a key role for his team in the competition.

He led India to their second T20 World Cup win in 2024 and ended the ICC trophy drought, and if that was not it, he recently guided India to ICC Champions Trophy 2025 triumph. Notably, it was Rohit's second Champions Trophy triumph as he was also part of the MS Dhoni-led team that won the 2013 edition.

Rohit Sharma has major ICC trophies in his kitty, along with several IPL titles, but he hasn't won a 50-over World Cup or an ICC World Test Championship mace.

He has openly expressed his wish to win the ODI World Cup several times and he came really close to it in 2023 when India dominated throughout the competition but lost to Australia in the final.

Speaking on Breakfast with Champions, Rohit stated that he really wants to win the 50-over World Cup because it is the 'actual World Cup' for him. Even after the 2023 heartbreak, Rohit had expressed a strong desire to achieve the milestone in the future.

That is way too far, he will have to see where his fitness is going, where his hunger is going - Harbhajan Singh

Meanwhile, the legendary India National Cricket Team spinner Harbhajan Singh has said that he is unsure of Rohit's 2027 Cricket World Cup participation as the tournament is very far away and the Indian captain will need to maintain his fitness and stay hungry to achieve that goal. He added that the same rule applies to veteran batter Virat Kohli.

"I feel that if anything is left for him to achieve is the 50-over World Cup. He would probably want to win, but there are still two and a half years for that. That is way too far, he will have to see where his fitness is going, where his hunger is going," Harbhajan told ESPNCricinfo.

"If he's still got it, he will have to work hard for it and if he works hard, he will play. So, is the case with Virat Kohli," he concluded.

Why was Rohit Sharma not part of India's 2011 World Cup-winning team?

Unlike Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli has won the ODI World Cup along with the Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup, as he was part of the 2011 Cricket World Cup-winning team under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

Notably, Rohit Sharma was one of the contenders to make it to the squad, but his inconsistent performances leading up to the tournament didn't help his cause and he was not selected.

Former selector Raja Venkat had also revealed that the India head coach Gary Kirsten initially supported Rohit's inclusion, but skipper MS Dhoni wasn't on the same page with him and preferred Piyush Chawla over Rohit, which led to the leg-spinner getting preference.

In the squad, Rohit was replaced by Piyush Chawla, but in the playing XI, he was effectively replaced by Virat Kohli, who went on to play a big role in India's historic triumph.