In about three weeks’ time, the Indian cricket team will kickstart their campaign to win the elusive ICC trophy when Rohit Sharma leads his men at the T20 World Cup to be co-hosted by the USA and Caribbean islands from June 1.
With Rohit Sharma already named captain, there were speculations over the make-up of the squad and who will miss the bus. There were no major surprises but few lamented the absence of Rinku Singh – among the traveling reserves – from the 15-member squad despite his stellar record in India colours.
Stay updated with the latest from IPL 2024, including top contenders for the IPL 2024 Orange Cap and IPL 2024 Purple Cap. Explore the complete IPL 2024 Schedule, IPL 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes, Most Fours and Most Fifties in IPL 2024
With both Rohit nearing 40, it’s speculated the T20 World Cup will be the final such tournament of his glittering career. However, former India cricketer Yograj Singh is a firm believer that unless a player is fit and able to perform, age should never be a factor in deciding his/her future.
“I have never been able to understand all this talk about old age," Yograj told News18 India. “If you are 40-42 or even 45, if you are fit and performing well, what’s the matter? People here believe that once you’re 40, you are old, your kids have grown up and you’re done. This player is nearing 40 and it’s time to move on. The truth is that you are not finished."
Yograj then cited examples of yesteryear stars like Mohinder Amarnath and Garfield Sobers to make his point.
“Mohinder Amarnath was 38 years old (33) when he won India the World Cup. He was your Player of the Match in the final," he said.
“It’s time to get rid of this age-factor from Indian cricket. Rohit Sharma and Viru (Virender Sehwag) are great players in my book. These have never thought about fitness and training. If Rohit does that, he could end up playing till 50. Sir Gary Sobers wrote in his book that if he knew fitness was so important, he would have never gone to parties. So Sobers said, had he focused on training, he would have scored plenty of runs. Age never matters, fitness does," he added.
Comments
0 comment