R Ashwin and Virat, Rohit - (Source: AFP)
The past week has been an emotional rollercoaster for Indian cricket fans. The Men in Blue suffered a 1-2 series defeat against England, their first against the Three Lions in ODIs in 8 years. The focus was on Rohit Sharma, who was reported to be ending his international career after the Lord’s ODI.
However, the reports turned out to be fake because the hitman himself shut the outside noise and also let his bat do the talking at the Mecca of cricket. The hitman slammed a 110-ball 138, becoming the first Indian to score a century at the iconic venue.
Following the masterclass, the debate over whether Rohit Sharma should be part of the 2027 ODI World Cup squad was reignited. In the latest events, R Ashwin, speaking on his YouTube channel, has brought the fan clubs into the debate.
R Ashwin Credits Fan Clubs For No Risk To Rohit Sharma
R Ashwin remarked that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have massive fan clubs, which is why they are basically untouchable.
The former India spinner remarked that they are in runs and, on top of that, the roof will come down if Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli gets dropped from the India squad for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
“They cannot touch both Virat and Rohit if they want to play. Why's that? They have the credentials. They have scored runs. They are both batters, and they cannot touch them. If they touch them, if you look at the news of Rohit's potential retirement, it was not outside noise. If there's no fire, there would be no smoke,” said Ashwin on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’.
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“There was fire, but Rohit scored runs, and he has shown how it's done. Rohit has no doubt about playing in the World Cup. They cannot touch both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli because they are batters. They have an army and a battalion. People come to watch them. If you show them the door, it will break the roof down,” he added.
Notably, Virat Kohli too slammed 2 fifties and missed out on deserving hundreds against England.
R Ashwin Demands Same Treatment For Bowlers
In the same debate, Ashwin demanded the same treatment for the bowlers. The 39-year-old mentioned Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, who are out of the team, but since they don’t have the same number of followers as the batters, they get dropped easily from the team.
“But when you don't pick Siraj, Shami or Bhuvneshwar, only 10 people will ask about them. A maximum of 1000 people will ask. Let's consider 10,000 people ask about them. But there would be no noise. If there comes a day when people raise their voice for the bowlers, then dropping them would also become difficult,” said Ashwin.
Rohit Sharma Clears The Air On His Retirement
Following the historic knock, Rohit Sharma himself confirmed that he is not going anywhere. In a subtle dig, the Hitman stated that the outside noise has been there since his debut.
“Noise has been there ever since I made my debut and till the time I'm playing, it's always going to be there. What matters is what I do on the field. My focus is on contributing to the team; that is my focus. Let the noise be there. If there is no noise, then there is no fun,” Rohit told the BCCI in a video shared by the Indian board on social media.
Notably, Rohit Sharma will next be seen in action against West Indies at home in late September.
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