Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma fans, rejoice. Your beloved stalwarts are pretty much in the reckoning for a place in India's 2027 World Cup squad. When India's 2023 World Cup campaign last year ended in a heartbreak with a loss to Australia in the final, it was believed that Rohit and Kohli's ODI careers will end without winning the 50-overs World Cup together. And although they did have their brotherly moment under the sun when India lifted the T20 World Cup in the West Indies, the fact that new head coach Gautam Gambhir has kept the doors open for them to have one more shot at World Cup glory, sets the stage for the stage for an ideal swansong for India's superstar batting duo.

But there's a catch. By the time the 2027 World Cup arrives, Rohit would be 40, and Kohli 39. Gambhir himself has stressed that for Ro-Ko to feature in the World Cup scheme of things, they would need to be fit. And when it comes to fitness, there is no better than Kohli. Now that he has retired from T20Is, Kohli has the chance to manage his workload better if he plans on continuing for three more years. Rohit, on the other hand, may not be as athletic as Kohli, but the India captain is pretty fit himself.

However, a statement by former India opener Kris Srikkanth reflects Rohit in bad light. The former BCCI chairman of selectors reckons that while Kohli is pretty much a certainty for next ODI World Cup, Rohit will struggle to make it owing to his fitness. During a discussion with his son Anirudha, 'Cheeka', as he is fondly called, said on his YouTube channel that Rohit may collapse if he plays the next World Cup which takes place in South Africa. "Virat Kohli will play 2027 World Cup but Rohit Sharma would faint," he said.

Rohit and Kohli's journey

Kohli won the 2011 World Cup as a 22-year-old, while Rohit in 2007. Both won the first World Cup they played for India. But over the years, as their stature as batters grew, India's wait to win an ICC title prolonged. Rohit and Kohli won the 2013 Champions Trophy together, before both were subjected to a string of knockout defeats. India lost in the semifinals of the 2015 World Cup and the 2016 World T20 before being outplayed by Pakistan in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy in England. Two years later, India were haunted by another semifinal exit despite being the top-ranked team of the group stage.

The 2021 T20 World Cup ended up being a disaster as India endured a first-round exit and although the Men in Blue put up a much braver show the following year in Australia, they were handed a 10-wicket drubbing by England in another semi-final loss. The much-awaited home World Cup arrived in 2023, and as India ran roughshod over their opponents, winning 10 in a row, it was almost given, only a matter of time before Rohit's team was immortalised. But it wasn't to be and they ended runner-up against all odds.

Finally, the hoodoo ended and the deadlock broken last month when Rohit completed his redemption story and won India its fourth World Cup trophy. He has time and again insisted that the ODI World Cup is the true World Cup for him. So while he may still be 40 by the time, the belief is that Rohit would want to walk into the sunset as a three-time World Cup winner.

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