“He is gonna be 41 by that time” - Robin Uthappa makes a brutal verdict on Rohit Sharma losing ODI captaincy

Former Indian keeper-batter Robin Uthappa has opened up on Rohit Sharma’s sacking as the ODI skipper for the forthcoming three-match ODI series against Australia Down Under, starting on October 19.

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Speaking on his YouTube channel, Uthappa asserted that Rohit will be 41 when the ICC World Cup 2027 commences in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Furthermore, the former keeper also backed the selection committee’s decision, while they faced a major backlash from the Indian cricketing fraternity. 

"He's gonna be, in all honesty, 41 when that World Cup comes around. Right? So, you gotta keep that in consideration as well. And for all intents and purposes, I think it's done with taking the decision when the stakes are low rather than when the stakes are high, you don't want another situation like what happened in Australia," Robin Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

"To happen to Rohit Sharma, he's too good a player for something to happen to him like that again. So, maybe to avoid all those stuffs. Maybe, I don't know... You don't want an uncomfortable situation like that, and if he keeps himself fit, then no questions there. You know Rohit and Virat will be a part of that side," he added.

Additionally, Uthappa also felt that though Rohit might not find a dip in form, he may see a bit of a dip in his reflexes because of the limited game time in the IPL, ODI cricket, and a few domestic games before the ICC mega event.

"I don't see form kind of dipping that sense, but it's just about reflexes and does that work, and how those things work because right now, they are not playing a lot of cricket as well. The only cricket they'll find themselves playing is perhaps the IPL and One Day cricket, and perhaps maybe some domestic One Day matches if they do come by," he concluded.

India ODI squad for Australia series: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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