Former India cricketer Yograj Singh believes that Rohit Sharma, the Indian skipper, can play till the age of 50 provided he starts taking his fitness seriously.
Rohit, who turned 37 last month, is set to lead India at the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup, which begins on June 1 and will be played in the Caribbean and the USA.
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However, there has been immense speculation surrounding his future in the Indian cricket team beyond the 2024 T20 World Cup, with many believing that the upcoming ICC event will be the 37-year-old Mumbai-born opener's final appearance for India at any major tournament.
India are set to play in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which could potentially be Rohit's final ICC tournament. Following the Champions Trophy, India are likely to kick off a transition phase and prepare a new crop of players that can take can centre-stage at the 2027 Cricket World Cup in Africa.
India could also feature in their third consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) Final next year, should they finish in the top two of the WTC 2023-25 points table. Currently, they sit atop.
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Yograj Singh believes that Rohit Sharma can play for India into his 40s
Speaking to News18 India, Yograj asserted that he didn't believe in the stereotype that cricketers approaching their 40s or even those in their 40s cannot perform well.
I have never been able to understand all this talk about old age. If you are 40-42 or even 45, if you are fit and performing well, what’s the matter? People here believe that once you’re 40, you are old, your kids have grown up and you’re done. This player is nearing 40 and it’s time to move on. The truth is that you are not finished.
Yograj went on to cite the examples of legendary cricketers from decades past, such as India's Mohinder Amarnath and West Indies' Sir Garfield Sobers to back his claims.
Mohinder Amarnath was 38 years old (33) when he won India the World Cup. He was your Player of the Match in the final.
It’s time to get rid of this age-factor from Indian cricket. Rohit Sharma and Viru (Virender Sehwag) are great players in my book. These have never thought about fitness and training. If Rohit does that, he could end up playing till 50. Sir Gary Sobers wrote in his book that if he knew fitness was so important, he would have never gone to parties. So Sobers said, had he focused on training, he would have scored plenty of runs. Age never matters, fitness does.
