IND vs AFG ODIs: Focus on Rohit Sharma as 2027 World Cup auditions begin

Rohit Sharma faces an audition for his ODI future, needs to prove his fitness and form ahead of the next World Cup.(Photo/PTI) DHARAMSHALA: It is not often that Rohit Sharma plays a passive role in a team environment. Here on a Friday night, he strolled around the central square, casually juggling fieldwork while others had more focused sessions before hitting the nets. He was never the most energetic and agile on the field. But his presence always required authority. The familiar banter disappeared as he cut out the unusually abandoned image.The ODI World Cup in South Africa is still 15 months away. But the audition for places in the Indian team will be on with the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan starting here on Saturday. The 39-year-old Rohit, with 282 ODIs, 33 centuries and 11,577 runs to his name, is now fighting to defend his place in the team and convince the team management that he will be physically able to withstand the rigors of the high-pressure sport. Concerns were compounded when he missed a large chunk of matches for Mumbai Indians this season due to a hamstring injury.It’s unusual for a player of this stature to keep his distance from the team’s think tank during a three-hour practice. While head coach Gautam Gambhir was literally in captain Shubman Gill’s ears as soon as he finished batting in the nets, Rohit moved quietly to the nets at center square to bat for the second time. As everyone else in the team finished practice, Rohit decided to practice his slip catch with coach T Dilip before being joined by Ishan Kishan to brush up on his wicket-keeping skills.This cannot be a pleasant scenario even for a young captain like Gill. Before the previous World Cup, it was captain Rohit who preferred Gill’s youthful exuberance over the experienced Shikhar Dhawan. Gill now has to decide if he wants to give young Yashasvi Jaiswal a chance to open with him instead of Rohit’s age. On Friday evening, Gill finally went to see Rohit for a brief chat after inspecting the pitch before leaving for the team hotel.Every time Rohit’s name was mentioned in the pre-match press conference, India’s bowling coach dismissed the discussion saying, “Rohit is moving well and training well. He has passed all the fitness tests. His presence calms the dressing room.”It is unfair to judge someone’s form by the nets session. But the rust in his bat was evident. Stepping up after big breaks was always going to be a challenge for him as he chose to play only this one format for India. But this is how it will be for Rohit until he clears all the doubts about him.The team will rotate between Ishan, KL and JaiswalWith Virat Kohli missing for the series due to a hamstring injury, the team management sees this series as an opportunity to test Ishan Kishan and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Morkel claimed that the team will rotate between first-choice wicketkeeper KL Rahul, Ishan and Jaiswal.“As for the No.3 slot, I think that’s something we’ll play with. Even if it’s Ishan or KL or Yashasvi, it’s a nice opportunity now. We’ve got a couple of one-dayers and we’ll give the guys an opportunity in different slots to get a better idea of ​​how we can go and structure the teams,” Morkel said.