- author, Suresh Menon
- role, Cricket Writer
When India last won the Cricket World Cup in 2011, everyone knew it would be batsman Sachin Tendulkar’s last chance.
He was 39 and it was his sixth attempt. The team’s unofficial slogan was “Let’s do it for Sachin.”
Virat Kohli, one of the players who carried Tendulkar on his shoulders after captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit the winning six, memorablely said, “He has been carrying our batting line on his shoulders for a long time. Now it’s our turn to carry him on our shoulders.”
And now Kohli, who turns 36 this year as Tendulkar’s successor, is nearing the end of his career.
The next T20 World Cup is in 2026, with the 50-over version in 2027. Kohli is in better shape than Tendulkar but it is hard to see him playing white-ball cricket at that level again, and this may also be captain Rohit Sharma’s final World Cup appearance at 37.
You won’t hear cries of “Let’s do it for Kohli” or “Let’s do it for Rohit” in the Indian team unless they have been more subdued in the past. Maybe there will be cries of “Let’s do it for Kohli”. [Rahul] The word “Dravid” is in the air. This will be the Indian coach’s final stint with the national team after missing the 2011 World Cup.
Image source, Getty Images
T20 is increasingly becoming a young man’s game. Youngsters don’t care about individual statistics, they focus on where the next six is going to come from. It’s a cultural change in Indian cricket that has gone unnoticed. In the past, too many big names have shown unhealthy concerns about numbers being taken out of context and recorded.
Sharma’s astounding 92 against Australia showed the next generation how strike rate matters more than average in T20. Tendulkar was hugely celebrated when he hit his 100th international century, but India lost the match.
India’s white-ball team, especially in T20, is in a period of transition – 10 members of the squad are over 30 and three over 35 – and some of the stronger batsmen are emerging from the system.
Shubman Gill will lead India’s T20 squad to Zimbabwe next month for the five-match T20 series, which will feature some of India’s future talents in under-25s like Yashasvi Jaiswal (unfortunately not playing in the T20 World Cup but could feature), Riyan Parag, Abhishek Sharma, Dhruv Jhuller, Nitish Kumar and Ravi Bishnoi, as well as Rinku Singh.
Image source, Getty Images
Among the players over 35 years old in the current West Indies squad is Ravindra Jadeja, while Suryakumar Yadav, the top-order batsman in this format, is approaching 34.
Age shouldn’t matter, it’s form and fitness that will decide. But T20 is a tricky format. Experience may actually work against a player as strategies and tactics change rapidly and yesterday’s philosophies are no longer applicable.
When Kohli and Sharma first started to flourish in T20, the game was very different.
It is their adaptability that has allowed them to compete on equal terms with the likes of Suryakumar and Jaiswal (world no. 7). There is a chance that one or both of them will announce their retirement after this tournament. If India wins, they will not progress any further and will retire after the win. If they lose, the pressure will be on them to give way. Sport is cruel.
When India lost the 50-over World Cup final to Australia last year, the country was in mourning. The players were heartbroken, but especially Kohli and Sharma, who had both been in good form in the tournament as India went into the final unbeaten. And then they ruined the match. Neither of them got to stand on the shoulders of their teammates. Both of them knew they might never get another chance.
That’s why he’ll be looking for revenge in the T20 World Cup. Somehow, a career is considered incomplete without winning a world title, whatever the format. A win would be a happier starting point for the transition.