Don’t make Rohit Sharma feel unwanted: Ashwin calls for lessons from his retirement

If the Indian cricket team does not have Rohit Sharma in their plans for the 2027 ODI World Cup, then the decision should be announced immediately after India’s 2025 Champions Trophy triumph, Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Responding to the speculation surrounding Rohit’s retirement, Ashwin questioned the way the Indian team handled senior players at the end of their careers. The former Indian spinner said there is perhaps no worse feeling than feeling unwanted in a team where a player has built his legacy.

‘DON’T CAUSE AN UNINTENDED HORN’

An emotional Ashwin drew parallels with his own retirement, which came midway through the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.

“In my case, we played against Bangladesh (at home), I was the player of the series. We didn’t play well against New Zealand and I take full responsibility. When we went to Australia, I felt the management didn’t want me there,” Ashwin said about Ash Ki Baat.

Ashwin said players cannot perform at their best once they start feeling unwanted by the team management.

“If Rohit and Virat don’t feel wanted, they can’t perform at their best. Secondly, they feel so low that they are there. Can you stay in a house where no one wants you there?” Ashwin asked.

ASHWIN COMES CLOSER TO BCCI

The comments come amid growing speculation over Rohit’s ODI future after a dip in form in the last few months. However, Ashwin believes that India’s experienced batsmen still have an important role to play in the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.

For Ashwin, Rohit’s recent struggles are simply a case of a player going through a lean patch. The former off-spinner claimed that India will still need the experience of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on the swinging South African pitches.

Ashwin also questioned the timing of the speculation, saying that if the management had already decided to move on from Rohit, it should not have waited until just 12 months before the World Cup.

“Yes, he has lost form in the last eight matches. My problem with the situation is the Indian team itself. If we are going to South Africa in September and October, I would want the experience of Rohit and Kohli. But if you ever felt that you didn’t want to carry the player for the 2027 ODI World Cup, that could have been communicated at the end of the 2025 Trophy,” Ashwin told Champions.

“It’s a double-edged sword. The players would never feel comfortable. If someone came to me in Australia and said we don’t see you in our plans, I would be angry, but later I would understand that at least the communication was clear,” he added.

“It has to happen and it happened very clearly. But they weren’t bad at all on performance alone. Virat was outstanding, Rohit was above average. Why did we let it come to August 2026 when the World Cup is 12 months away? Why did we let it go so far? That’s my only question,” Ashwin concluded on the matter.

FACING THE SAME ASHWIN?

The veteran spinner also briefly opened up about his own experience with the Gautam Gambhir-led Indian team, saying that he never got clarity from the management on what he was looking for. Ashwin indicated that he was indirectly told to mentor the younger players, which he interpreted as a sign that his time with the national team was coming to an end.

“I like direct conversation. I can’t work with indirect messaging. When someone comes up to me and says, ‘Ashwin, we’ve got these little kids, you should train them,’ what does that mean? Isn’t that a way to make people feel unwanted?” Ashwin concluded.

The third and final ODI between India and England at Lord’s could potentially be Rohit Sharma’s last appearance in the format. Rohit played 287 ODIs for India and scored 11,757 runs at an average of 48.58, including 33 centuries. If he decides to retire, he will finish as the seventh highest run-scorer in ODI history.

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Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

17 Jul 2026 19:27 IST