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With talks around Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s future in international cricket hitting the roof, several former cricketers have come down to share their opinions. While some have believed that the duo should continue playing the ODIs as can guide and nurture the young players, a few others are of the belief that they should make way for the budding players.
Notably, the duo retired from T20I after guiding India to T20 World Cup triumph in the West Indies and the USA last year. After just nine months, they led India to Champions Trophy victory and in May 2025, mid-way through the Indian Premier League (IPL), they put down curtains on their Test career. They now remain action only in the ODI format.
Yograj Singh urges Rohit Sharma to work on his fitness to prolong his ODI cricket career
Amidst this, former India cricketer and father of Yuvraj Singh, Yograj Singh shed light on Rohit Sharma future. The 67-year-old slammed the critics while urging Rohit to play for another five years. "The man about whom so many people speak rubbish, Rohit Sharma - I said that day that Rohit will be my man, the man, my man," Yograj began while speaking to News18 CricketNext.
"The way he batted, his batting one side and the rest of the team's batting on the other side. His innings on one side and the rest of the world on the other. That's his class. You can say, 'Rohit, aapki hume 5 saal aur zarurat hai yaar' (Rohit, we need you for five more years, man) so please do more for your country, work on your fitness and everything. Put four men on him, make him run 10 kilometres every morning. He has the class to play till 45 years of age, if he wants," he added.
Watch video of Yograj Singh’s stance on Rohit Sharma’s future in cricket:
Singh also asserted that Rohit should play domestic cricket and work on his fitness. "I believe you should play domestic cricket; the more you play that, the fitter you'll be. Who got the Man of the Match in the final? Rohit Sharma. So you should only talk about things that you know. If you want to talk about his game and fitness, do that only if you have played at some level. Do you feel ashamed for talking like this?" Yograj Singh said.
It is to be noted that the 38-year-old last appearance in Indian colours came in the Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand on March 9 in Dubai. However, the veteran batter then went on to play the IPL 2025 with Mumbai Indians (MI), where he scored 418 runs from 15 matches at a strike rate of 149.28. He is next schedule to return to competitive action in the Australia ODI series, set to be played in October.
