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There was a time in India, about 15 years ago, when the most-asked question among fans was ‘When will Salman Khan get married?’ Fast forward to 2026, that ship seems to have long sailed, but replaced by another red-hot query: Will Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma play the 2027 World Cup? If Indian cricket fans had a time machine, expect a long queue. Kohli and Rohit are the two biggest superstars of Indian cricket. Even at the twilight of their careers, there’s no one bigger in terms of star power, respect and fan following. There are fan wars between Kohli and Rohit supporters that are only getting bigger with time and promise to remain long after they’ve stepped aside from international cricket. In fact, only four names in Indian cricket are bigger than the rest – Sachin Tendulkar, MS DhoniKohli and Rohit. And as fate would have it, all four of them became a talking point when the great man MS Dhoni graced the stage for a rare discussion.
Dhoni has discussed cricket so much that he tries to stay away from it, but even the great man couldn’t escape the opportunity to speak about the most burning question in Indian cricket. Do Kohli and Rohit have what it takes to make that flight to South Africa late next year? He tried to avoid that question at first, pretending not to hear it. But as host Jatin Sapru insisted, Dhoni, at last, weighed in.
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“Why not?” said India’s most successful white-ball captain Dhoni. “Listen, the thing is, why should somebody not play the next World Cup? For me, age is not a criteria. Performance and fitness are. So, I always feel nobody should be told anything. But the thing should be clear. Everyone will be treated the same way. When I made my debut, I was 24. Nobody came and told me anything. So if I am playing for India – 1, 2, 5 or 10 years – nobody needs to come and tell me about my age. Is age a factor? No. Fitness? Yes.
“Even if you’re 22 and you’re not fit, that’s a problem. Whether it’s Rohit, whether it’s Virat, or even other names that come forward. The whole thing is, just because somebody is in their 30s, whether they can or cannot play the next World Cup, it’s not for us to decide. It’s for them to decide. If they keep performing, if they have to urge to do well, then why not?”
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As Dhoni stressed experience, one must not ignore two crucial elements. Kohli and Rohit are 38, and by the World Cup, would be 39 and 40 respectively. Dhoni himself played international cricket till 39, playing his last match during India’s 2019 World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in Manchester. Then again, in Rohit and Kohli’s case, their retirement from T20Is and Tests, and the fact that they now play only one format, does raise questions about game time. Kohli, however, has firmly put those doubts to rest, smashing 616 runs in his last seven ODIs, with Rohit not far behind at 401 from his last 10. Dhoni, meanwhile, has always been a staunch believer in experience, in backing players who have seen it all.
“How do you get experienced people? You can’t get a 20-year-old who is experienced, unless it’s Sachin Tendulkar. You can only get experience if you start playing at 16-17. And international cricket is very different. So now if you want experience, you need people who are 30, 32, 33. If you’re calling 20-25 games as experience, that’s wrong. If people are performing, they’ll be there. If they’re not performing, they won’t,” added MS Dhoni.
