Greater Noida, July 19: Legendary Kapil Dev asserted that even stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are not a “certainty” in the Indian team but the veteran batters should be given a chance as long as they are performing.
Rohit, 39, and Kohli, 37, are at the fag end of their storied careers, but the former found himself in a pressure situation after two lowly outings against England in the ongoing three-match ODI series.
“Certainty is never ever applied to anybody. Whoever keeps performing, keeps playing. It doesn’t matter (who he is). I would say, you keep watching the performance and let them play as much as they can,” Kapil told PTI during an interaction at the Kapil Dev Sunil Gupta Hospital here.
Kapil said selectors and team management are best placed to take a decision on such senior players.
“Even Sachin Tendulkar had a lot of cricket left in him (when he retired). Let the selectors do that job. I’m not going to say who’s dropped. It’s the selectors’ and the team management’s job. I’m assessing after watching television, so it’s easy to talk about that.
“Let’s give the responsibility to the management and to the selectors to pick the best team. If they lose, we should stand by them,” he said.
However, Kapil exhorted the fans to enjoy whatever little is left in the careers of these veterans.
“He (Rohit) is not 20 years old. He is almost 40, and everybody has to retire. But the amount of happiness he has given to everybody-not just Indian people, but everybody around the world — hats off to him,” he said.
“What he has given us for so many years, we should be proud of that. And as much as he can play, or as the selectors or captain think, he should play,” he added.
The 1983 World Cup-winning skipper also urged the selectors to pick a team that can win matches for India, rising above factors like age etc. (PTI)
