Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli stripped of special privileges; 2027 World Cup dream collapsing fast

According to the latest report in Cricbuzz, the legendary India National Cricket Team batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are no longer immune to the vagaries of selection.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are no longer untouchable in Indian cricket as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has decided to strip them of the special privileges.

Shubman Gill replaces Rohit Sharma as ODI skipper

The modern-day batting great Rohit Sharma, who transformed the way India plays white-ball cricket and ended the decade-long ICC trophy drought, is no longer the captain.

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On Saturday, October 4, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Shubman Gill as the new ODI captain and sacked Rohit Sharma despite his immense success.

This came as a major surprise because Rohit Sharma looked in good touch with the bat in his last ODI outing for India, which came in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Rohit Sharma slammed 76 runs in the summit clash and steered India to an amazing title triumph, which was his second consecutive as captain, with the previous one coming in 2024 - the T20 World Cup.

Although Rohit Sharma has been sacked as skipper, he has been named in the ODI squad for the Australia tour alongside Virat Kohli. They will be playing under Shubman Gill's leadership, and it will be the first such instance since 2016 that Kohli and Rohit will be playing under a different captain together.

No special privileges for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Although the modern-day batting greats Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are present in the ODI squad for the Australia tour, they won't enjoy any special privileges anymore.

Having retired from T20I and Tests, the duo are only available in ODI cricket at the international level. From now onwards, they will be treated just like any other player, which means a flop show could lead to their exit from the setup.

"They may no longer be immune to the vagaries of selection - no special privileges anymore and may soon find themselves subject to the same selection criteria as everyone else," the Cricbuzz report read.

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is non-committal about the long-term future of the duo, and there is a lack of clarity over their participation in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027.

Age factor goes against Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma

The BCCI selection is also considering the age factor of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who will be 40 and 39 by the time the next World Cup starts. This clearly goes against them and with the youngsters waiting in the wings, the selection committee might be tempted to give chances to new faces.

"Sources indicate that planning for the 2027 World Cup around the two stalwarts is not going to be straightforward," the report added, highlighting the lack of ODI matches before the competition as another reason behind their possible snub.

Ajit Agarkar has also sent a clear message to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy if they wish to prolong their international careers. Also, the chief selector himself reached out to Rohit to convey the decision to sack him, and it is not known how he reacted.

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