TimesofIndia.com in Dubai: “Macha come for five minutes na… ,” Harshit Rana pleaded with Washington Sundar to join their team, which was a player short, for a game of foot-volley at the Dubai International Stadium. Sundar, an off-spinner, was lazing around on the greens after sipping coconut water and was in no mood to become the replacement for Virat Kohli, who left his team midway through the game to join head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma for a discussion near the playing square.
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The three stood there and made plans for what to do on Sunday for nearly 20 minutes. The hand gestures, Rohit’s shadow batting and Kohli pointing to different areas on the field suggested there was plenty of plans being made. Not long after, light fielding drills took over. It was by no means an intense outing under the unforgiving sun as the entire bunch just got a feel of the afternoon, had a very brief team meeting, some stars signed for the waiting fans before everyone made their way back to the team hotel.
The eve of the match, however, wasn’t that brief an affair for both the captain and vice-captain (Shubman Gill) as the two didn’t travel with the rest of the team to the stadium and were instead sweating it out at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Academy in the morning hours.
With batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and throwdown specialists for company, the openers trained for around an hour before joining the rest of the team. Even when the rumour mill is working overtime on the future of India captain, Rohit has his eyes on the prize – an ICC ODI title.
There was a lot of purpose in his movements and discussions during the practice session on March 7 too as there is unfinished business for the Men in Blue. Most were part of the November 19 heartbreak vs Australia and the March 9 fixture, against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy, presents an opportunity for the ageing superstars, in the last leg of their respective careers, to add an ICC winners medal to their cabinet. There is an eye on the present but ears are firmly planted on the future too.
Mohammed Shami (34), Ravindra Jadeja (36), Kohli (36) and Rohit (37) are not getting any younger and this could well be the last time the quartet feature together in an ICC ODI tournament. The next World Cup is still a couple of years away and it sounds like a stretch at this stage.
Kohli, Rohit and Jadeja announced retirement from T20Is after the World Cup win in 2024 and there could be some decisions, if not announcements, in store after the Champions Trophy concludes on Sunday. If India have to make the roadmap for the 2027 World Cup, it has to start immediately after the Champions Trophy and some tough calls need to be taken.
The timing to initiate the transition in ODIs is ideal and it could well not be dependent on the outcome of the Champions Trophy final. Vice-captain Gill, whose elevation is the step in the transition direction, asserted that there are no such discussions in the change room and the final clash vs the Black Caps remains the centre of attention at this stage.
“No sir, till now we have only been discussing about winning the match, winning the Champions Trophy. He has not spoken to me or to the team about this decision. I don’t think Rohit is thinking about it,” says Gill at the pre-match press conference.
Will-he-won’t-he has been the repeated statement since the multi-nation tournament got underway in Dubai and the chatter grew louder on eve of the title clash. There was extra attention on his movements, routines on Saturday but the captain, for now, has his eyes firmly locked on the prize – the ICC Champions Trophy.
