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Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are currently in Thiruvananthapuram preparing for the 1st ODI between India and the West Indies, which is scheduled to take place on September 27th at the Greenfield International Stadium, Kerala. Ahead of the first game, Virender Sehwag has shared his insights on Rohit and Kohli’s retirement talks and whether fans would stop watching the game.
The India National Cricket Team will be playing a three-match ODI series against the Windies as part of their preparation for the ODI World Cup 2027. The one question that has been surrounding this is about the future of Rohit Sharma, whether he will be playing the next major event for India or not. As of now, there has been no confirmation.
Virender Sehwag dismisses the idea that fans would stop watching cricket if Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retire
While speaking in an exclusive interview with News18, former India opener Virender Sehwag was asked about the impact of a cricketer’s retirement, especially about Virat and Rohit retiring from Test and T20Is. He believes that their respective fans always watch the game for their favourite cricketer; once they retire from all forms, they will stop.
"Log kehte zaroor hain, unke fans kehte hain ki hum Virat Kohli ke liye cricket dekhte hain ya Rohit Sharma ke liye dekhte hain. Par aisa toh Sunil Gavaskar ke liye bhi kaha jata tha, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar ke liye bhi kaha jata tha."
"People are still watching as much cricket as they used to before": Virender Sehwag on fans watching the game
But Sehwag stated that this does not happen; fans continue to watch the game even if their favourite player retires. He cited examples of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Kapil Dev; their fans also said the same, but they also continue to watch the game, and nowadays more people watch it due to digitalization; nowadays matches are available on televisions and mobile phones.
He continued, "Yet, people are still watching as much cricket as they used to before. In fact, more people are watching now because earlier it used to come on TV, but now it is available on mobile phones. It has become even easier."
"So, to say that if this player retires, we won’t watch cricket anymore, maybe some of their fans won’t. I have also heard people say, ‘You stopped playing, so we stopped watching,’ but that’s not really the case. They probably still watch a little bit. Agar cricketers se hi game chal rahi hoti, toh ab tak band ho jati."
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been stalwarts of Indian cricket
Virat and Rohit have retired from T20Is, first after the T20 World Cup 2024 win. They together announced their retirement in a span of a few minutes. Later on, Kohli announced his retirement from the Test series right ahead of the England tour, and before Virat Kohli’s announcement, Rohit also retired from the longest format of the game.
Both currently play one format, which is the ODI, and they continue their dominance in this format. They have been in good form and will look to capitalise on their form in the upcoming series against the Windies. Rohit is expected to open with skipper Shubman Gill, while Virat Kohli is expected to bat at No.3 as usual.
