"Let Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retire from ODIs"- Tanvir Ahmed openly challenges Gautam Gambhir's India

Former Pakistan cricketer Tanvir Ahmed is known for his anti-India comments and he came up with another one recently. Tanvir took to social media and claimed that India will struggle once Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retire from the ODI formats.

Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are currently playing the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka where India is trailing 0-1 to the home team. The first match of the series ended in a dramatic tie while Sri Lankan spinners wreaked havoc in the second match to dismantle India's batting order.

Also read: Pakistan gets trashed by England as ECB rejects PCB's request just before Champions Trophy 2025

Tanvir Ahmed feels India is not the best without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in ODIs

Tanvir Ahmed took to X (formerly Twitter) and felt that India was not the best ODI team without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Tanvir Ahmed also challenged India to become the best ODI team without the two stalwarts.

"Ind vs sri 1 ODI match draw 2ND ODI Sri won Today Abhi ruko to zara Rohit Sharma or Virat Kholi ko ODI cricket say retirement leney do phir main dekhta hon india team kitna top ki team banti ha ODI main," Tanvir Ahmed posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Ind vs sri 1 ODI match draw
2ND ODI Sri won Today
Abhi ruko to zara Rohit Sharma or Virat Kholi ko ODI cricket say retirement leney do phir main dekhta hon india team kitna top ki team banti ha ODI main

— Tanveer Says (@ImTanveerA) A<!---->u<!---->g<!---->u<!---->s<!---->t<!----> <!---->4<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4

Tanvir Ahmed's open challenge to India

A few days ago, Tanveer Ahmed openly challenged the Indian team to come and play in Pakistan by referring to Pakistan's visit to India last year during the ODI World Cup 2023.

"Sher hai hum log sher hai, hum log sher hai. Hum log tere mulk me aa ke khel ke gaye hai. Aake dikha....Hum toh kah rahe hai aake khelo. Security denge, sab kuch denge tum logon ko. Aao toh sahi ek dafaa (We are lions, we are lions. We came and played cricket in your country. Come here and show... We are inviting you to come and play. We will provide security, we will give you everything. Just come once)," Tanvir Ahmed had said.

India looking to end the series on a high

India will be aiming to make a comeback in the third match against Sri Lanka and finish the series on a high. With a similar pitch expected, another stern spin test is expected for the Indian batters who have looked all at sea so far against the turning ball.

While Rohit Sharma has looked in good touch against Sri Lanka in this series with two fifties in two games, Virat Kohli is yet to fire. Rohit has scored 122 runs in 2 matches at an average of 61 while Kohli has scored just 38 runs in 2 games.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma recently retired from the T20I format after India's title win in the T20 World Cup 2024. Both will be available for the Tests and ODI formats and will be a crucial part of India's plans in the ICC Champions Trophy and the World Test Championship (WTC) final to be played next year.

Both the stalwarts have fabulous records in the ODI format. In the ODI World Cup played last year in India, Virat Kohli was the highest run-scorer in the tournament while Rohit Sharma finished as the second highest run-getter of the tournament. Both have been unbelievably consistent throughout their careers so far.

India have a number of quality options to replace these legends. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are believed to be at the frontline while Ruturaj Gaikwad is also waiting in the wings.