NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli's successive ducks in the first two ODIs against Australia have raised serious concerns about his future in international cricket. As India head into the third and final ODI in Sydney, believed to be Kohli's potential last hurrah, fans and cricket pundits remain divided on the issue.
However, legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar believes that Kohli is not someone who would end his international career on a low. Gavaskar also predicted that Kohli could continue playing until the 2027 World Cup.
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"Virat Kohli is not someone who walks away after two low scores. Do you really think he'll retire after getting 0 and 0? Absolutely not. He'll want to finish on a high. There's still the Sydney match, the home series against South Africa, and many more ODIs to come. I believe he'll play through to the 2027 World Cup, alongside Rohit Sharma. Even the Australians would have loved to see him score big," Gavaskar said during an interaction, as quoted by Odisha TV.
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"The man has over 14,000 runs, 52 ODI centuries, and 32 Test hundreds. He's scored so many runs for India that he's allowed a couple of failures. There's still plenty of cricket left in him. Maybe we'll see a big innings from him in Sydney. Adelaide has always been one of his favourite grounds, so expectations were high, but it just wasn't his day," Gavaskar added.
India will now look to salvage some pride in the third ODI in Sydney on Saturday, which will also mark the last time Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma play Down Under. With no ODI series scheduled in Australia over the next two years, it seems unlikely that the duo will be seen on Australian soil again.
Whether Kohli, in particular, continues to play post Australia series is a matter of conjecture but the final ODI at the iconic SCG will be more than a mere "dead rubber".
