DUBAI, March 12: Australia legend Ricky Ponting believes Rohit Sharma is still going strong and a sense of unfinished business was behind his decision to continue playing and leading India in the 50-over format until the 2027 ODI World Cup to be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Barring the ODI World Cup, Rohit has won all ICC titles while captaining India. He came agonisingly close to laying his hands on the 50-over world title at home in 2023, only to lose to Australia in the final.
Speaking on The ICC Review, the former Australia skipper said Rohit is pretty clear about his future goals.
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“When you start getting to that point of your career, everyone’s waiting for you to retire. And I don’t know why, when you can still play as well as he’s played (in the Champions Trophy final), I think he was just trying to put those questions to bed once and for all and say, ‘no, I’m still playing well enough. I love playing in this team. I love leading this team.’
“And I think, the fact that he said that, to me, it means that he must have that goal in mind of playing in the next (50-over) World Cup (in 2027),” Ponting stated.
Handed the responsibility of captaincy in 2021 at the age of 34, Rohit on Sunday clinched his second ICC title — following the T20 World Cup win last year — as India defeated New Zealand by four wickets to win the Champions Trophy here.
Chasing 252, Rohit, 38, led from the front with an 83-ball 76 at the top to set the platform for a comfortable win.
In the run-up to the tournament, there were talks around Rohit’s retirement from the ODI format after the Champions Trophy, as he had retired from T20Is after winning the T20 World Cup.
But Rohit simply rejected the theories at the post-match press conference following the final.
“One more thing, I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure no more rumours are spread,” Rohit told reporters after winning the player-of-the-match award.
Ponting said the urge to win the only missing ICC trophy in his cabinet, the ODI World Cup, might be behind Rohit’s mind to prolong his career.
“I think probably the fact that they (India) lost the last one and he was captain, that might be the thing that’s playing on the back of his mind,” the Australian said.
“Just have one more crack at trying to win the T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and the ODI World Cup.
“I mean when you see him play like he played in the Champions Trophy final, you wouldn’t say that his time is up just yet,” Ponting added. (PTI)
