“It happened to me, Dravid and everyone” - Sourav Ganguly breaks the silence on Rohit Sharma being sacked as ODI captain

Former Team India captain Sourav Ganguly has backed Shubman Gill to excel as the new ODI captain of the Indian cricket team, replacing Rohit Sharma for the forthcoming three-match series against Australia, starting on October 19.

Speaking at an event, Ganguly asserted that Rohit will turn 40 by the time the ICC World Cup 2027 commences in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. He also felt that even Gill at 40 years will face a similar situation, as faced by him, Rahul Dravid and many other sportsmen. 

"I’m sure Rohit must have been spoken to. I'm not sure if it's a sacking. I’m sure it’s a mutual discussion. Rohit has been an outstanding leader — he’s won the T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy. Performance is not the issue with Rohit Sharma. In 2027, Rohit will be 40. That's a big number in sport,” Ganguly said at an event.

"It happened to me, it happened to Dravid... It happens to everyone. Even Shubman Gill will face the same at 40. Everyone in sport has to finish someday. Not a bad decision to promote Gill. He's shown a lot of talent in England. I think it’s a fair call... Rohit can keep playing while you groom a young captain," he added.

Furthermore, Ganguly urged the Indian veteran duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to take part in domestic cricket to keep themselves fit as India is expected to play only a limited number of ODIs before the start of the mega event in 2027.

"It depends on him. How fit he stays, how much cricket he plays and how much runs he scores. It is not easy to play in the active format. He can play IPL but that is only 2 months or a year or two. As I said, it depends on how fit they remain and how much performance they keep doing," he observed.

"Whatever opportunity they get, they have to play domestic cricket. Because cricket is a sport where you have to keep playing. Otherwise, you lose the touch and the form and the contact. It is everything in life. You have to keep doing it. If you don't keep doing things, you don't get better. It is in anything. So, cricket is no different. They have to keep playing. They have to practice. They have to perform. They have to play domestic cricket. That's what it is," said Ganguly.

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