The debate around Rohit Sharma‘s place in India’s 2027 ODI World Cup squad refuses to end.
While many believe the veteran opener should make way for younger players, former India opener Sadagoppan Ramesh believes one statistic is enough to end the debate.
Under Gautam Gambhir, India have played ODI series in SENA countries, where overseas conditions have always been the biggest challenge for Indian batters.
During that period, only two ODI centuries have been scored by Indian players, and both came from Rohit Sharma.
Rohit first scored an unbeaten 121 against Australia in Sydney before smashing 138 against England while chasing 388 in the deciding ODI.
According to Ramesh, those two innings alone should make Rohit one of the first names in India’s squad for the 2027 ODI World Cup, which will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
According to Ramesh, this has nothing to do with emotions or Rohit’s reputation. It is purely about performances in SENA conditions.
He believes Rohit is the only Indian batter who has delivered in SENA conditions under the current team management, making him an automatic choice for the World Cup.
Despite that, the selectors are still not fully convinced about Rohit’s place in the 2027 World Cup squad because of his age and recent inconsistency.
But with the next World Cup returning to SENA conditions, is this one statistic enough to make Rohit Sharma India’s automatic choice once again?
