Irfan Pathan pleads Rohit, Virat Kohli to play for ‘longest-time’:Ex-India pacer advises Shubman Gill to handle difficult times as ‘things will only get difficult’

With the New Zealand vs India ODI series around the corner, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will return to action again for the home white-ball challenge. However, after the T20 World Cup squad snub that Shubman Gill faced, some media reports claimed scepticism around his ODI selection, but former India legend, Irfan Pathan, does not think the same. While speaking on ‘Follow The Blues’, the ex-India pacer not only reflected on the growing expectations around new captain Shubman Gill but also stressed the need for more ODIs and tri-series. On Rohit Sharma-Virat Kohli’s cricket presence While speaking about Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli’s presence in cricket, Irfan Pathan said, “You definitely want to think about the ICC 2027 ODI World Cup. It is far away, but I just want to see both Rohit and Kohli playing for the longest time, for India and when not playing international cricket, in domestic cricket. They are playing just one format and nothing else, so the more they play, the better it is.” Being a former cricketer himself, Irfan Pathan did not force his wishes on the India’s star cricketers. However, he has mounted high hopes for the Ro-Ko duo before the men’s 2027 World Cup. Meanwhile, the former pacer reflected on the challenges for young talent as well like that of Shubman Gill. Irfan Pathan on challenges for Shubman Gill as Test ODI captain While speaking on the ‘Follow the Blues’ show, JioStar expert on the challenges that India’s Test captain is set to face, “When I was picked for the first time, at 19 years of age, the great Rahul Dravid said, “Irfan, it’s good that you have reached this level, but things will only get difficult from here on.” Upon asking him, What should I do if things do get difficult? He replied, “You will get used to handling it…” and the same will happen with Shubman Gill. Pathan praised Gill for his Test performance on the England tour, increasing his authority in the team. However, Shubman Gill is yet to achieve the stature that Virat Kohli has achieved in his career. And more often, if not daily, he is compared to one of the biggest crowd pullers of cricket in the last decade. Irfan Pathan on Gill being compared to Virat Kohli Pathan said on constant comparisons between Kohli and Gill, “Virat Kohli was constantly compared to Sachin Tendulkar and was expected to perform at that level. Now that Kohli has reached those heights, Gill is being compared to him. There are expectations that he must match those standards and score close to 25,000–30,000 runs, and he certainly has the ability to do so.” However, he did not deny the importance of Ro-Ko in the future and stressed that they should play more and more cricket.