Ashwin Backs Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli Amidst Retirement Speculation

NEW DELHI: Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has thrown his support behind Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, saying the two senior batters cannot simply be dropped if they still want to play for India. Ashwin's comments came after Rohit silenced retirement talk with a brilliant century in the third and final ODI against England at Lord's. Although India lost the match by 27 runs and the series 2-1, Rohit's 138 reminded everyone why he remains one of India's biggest match-winners. Speaking on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat, Ashwin said: "'Rohit Sharma aur Virat Kohli ko touch nahi kar payenge (They will not be able to touch Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma). They cannot touch Virat and Rohit if they want to play. It is because of their credentials. Rohit has scored almost 12,000 runs; they cannot touch him." Ashwin said there was another major reason why the two stars are difficult to leave out. "The other thing is, they cannot be touched because they are batters. They have an army, a battalion. People come to see them. If you drop them, it will just break the roof down." Ashwin also pointed out that bowlers do not receive the same level of public backing as star batters. "But if Shami, Siraj or Bhuvneshwar are not picked, 10 people will question. 100 people, 1000 people, maybe 10,000 people will question. But they won't make noise. If a day comes when people would make noise for bowlers, it would be difficult to drop them as well.

Rohit answers critics with Lord's century

Rohit's place in the ODI side had come under intense scrutiny after reports claimed that the BCCI selection committee was not considering him for the 2027 ODI World Cup. The India captain had scores of 11 and 26 in the first two ODIs against England before producing a stunning knock in the series decider. Chasing 388 at Lord's, Rohit smashed 138 off just 110 balls, hitting 17 fours and five sixes. He kept India's chase alive almost until the end, even though the visitors eventually fell 27 runs short.

'The noise will be there'

After the match, Rohit made it clear that speculation over his future has never affected him. In an interview with BCCI.tv, he said external criticism has always been part of his career and that his only focus is performing for India.

"Look, my job is with the bat... Represent my country... That's what I'm gonna do. The noise... Since I made my debut, was there and till the time I'm gonna stay here, it's always gonna be there. So it doesn't really matter too much. What matters is what I do on the field," Rohit said.