Jay Shah drops bombshell revelation on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's ODI and Test future after T20I retirement
Published - 01 Jul 2024, 12:04 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:14 AM
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah opened up about senior players, including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, participating in the 2025 Champions Trophy. Jay Shah stated that the Indian team's next goal is to win the ICC World Test Championship final (WTC) and the Champions Trophy.
The Men in Blue ended their 11-year ICC trophy drought with a victory over South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 final match in Barbados on Saturday, June 29. Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma shocked the cricketing world by announcing their retirement from T20I cricket to focus on longer formats of the game.
Want India To Win All The Titles - Jay Shah
Jay Shah confirmed that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will participate in the upcoming ICC events. The BCCI Secretary expressed confidence in India's bench strength, mentioning that only three players from the World Cup team will be heading to Zimbabwe
“I would want India to win all the titles. We have the biggest bench strength, only three players from this team are going to Zimbabwe. We can field three teams if the need arises. The way this team is progressing, our target is to win the World Test Championship final and Champions Trophy. There will be a similar squad playing there. The seniors will be there,” Shah told PTI.
The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy is set to take place in Pakistan. However, uncertainty remains over whether the BCCI will send its team to the competition. The 50-over tournament is scheduled to start on February 19, with the final slated for March 9, as per reports from the International Cricket Council.
The WTC 2025 final is scheduled for June 2025 in London. The India team currently leads the points table in the 2023-2025 cycle with 68.52 percentage points from nine Test matches, followed by Australia with 62.50 percentage points. The top two teams from the cycle will compete in the final match next year.
A Good Player Known When To Say Good Bye - Jay Shah
Jay Shah recalled the 2023 ODI World Cup final loss and highlighted that the team's hard work paid off in the T20 World Cup 2024. Shah noted that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's experience played a significant role. He emphasized that a good player knows when to say goodbye to the game.
"It was the same captain last year and here in Barbados. We won all games except the final in 2023 as Australia played better. This time we worked even harder and played better to win the title. If you look at other teams, experience counts. From Rohit to Virat, all excelled."
"Experience makes a lot of difference, in World Cups, you can't experiment much also. A good player knows when to say goodbye to the game, we saw that yesterday. You look at Rohit's strike rate, it is better than a lot of young players," Shah said.
The Indian team registered their first ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. This triumph followed two losses in ICC finals over the past year, finally ending their prolonged wait for a major title.
