'Don't bring up this whole age issue that he is touching 40.'
'He's fit, batting well and catching brilliantly at slips.'
'What else do you need?'
Questions over Rohit Sharma's ODI future have been swirling around since the Board of Control for Cricket in India handed over India's ODI captaincy reins to Shubman Gill.
But if the just-concluded three-match ODI series against Australia was anything to go by, the 38-year-old batting maestro has silenced all such chatter.
Rohit, whose willow has been quiet for a while, rediscovered his familiar fluency, top-scoring for India in the second and third ODIs. His unbeaten 121 in the final game sealed the series for India and earned him the Player of the Series award.
Retired cricketer and former chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth was effusive in his praise, insisting that Rohit's place in the 2027 World Cup squad should be beyond question.
'Rohit is a certainty for the 2027 World Cup. We can't play without him and Virat Kohli. Rohit Sharma has lost 11 kgs and looks super fit. It was the old Rohit Sharma, with the touch game. He was batting with such ease and playing the ball so late,' Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Rohit's knocks were a throwback to his vintage self -- crisp drives, effortless pulls and an unhurried calm that belied the chatter about his age.
Even in the field, Rohit showed he hasn't lost his sharpness, pouching a couple of stunning catches at slip.
'Don't bring up this whole age issue that he is touching 40. He's fit, batting well and catching brilliantly at slips. What else do you need? He's playing with such ease like he did in the 2019 World Cup,' Srikkanth said, adding that the only missing gear was his explosive finishing mode.
He had some advice for the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar: Lock in Rohit and Kohli for the next World Cup, starting now.
'If I was the chairman of the selection committee, today itself I will go to them and say, 'Just be fit for the 2027 World Cup and win us the trophy.'
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