"Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni Aren't...": Kapil Dev's Unfiltered Rant On Rohit Sharma-Virat Kohli's Absence

The day has almost arrived when Team India will square off against England in the first Test of the five-match series. This series will not only begin India's campaign in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle, but also start the transition phase in India's Test cricket. After the retirements of skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli, young batter Shubman Gill was promoted as India's new Test captain. Though the visitors side consists of many big names like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and others, the fans are still concerned about the absence of Rohit and Kohli.

Recently, India's 1983-World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev slammed the fans and urged them to move on from Rohit-Kohli era. He namedropped MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, and others and even requested the fans to back India's new look team.

"Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Anil Kumble aren't there either. So, there's no point thinking about who isn't around," said Kapil Dev on Aaj Tak.

"Yes, they will be missed, but we need to look at the next generation and be proud of them. Rohit has done his job; Virat has done his job. They made us proud, but let's see if the next generation of players can be bigger," he added.

Notably, both Rohit and Kohli announced their respective Test retirments in May. Earlier in 2024, they also called time on their T20I careers.

On the eve of the first Test in Leeds, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar advised Gill is to focus on his own planning without thinking about opinions outside the dressing room.

"I think he (Gill) has to be given time. He has to be supported," Tendulkar told PTI in an exclusive interview on the eve of the opening Test in Headingley.

Being Indian skipper is a high-pressure job and Tendulkar knows that varied opinions will fly thick and fast. But he expects Gill to have a tunnel vision.

"I feel there are going to be a lot of opinions that 'he should do this and he should do that'. And all those kind of things will come into play. But what he should be focused on is, what is the team's plan. What was the discussion in the dressing room. And is it going according to that? "And all the decisions that are being made, are being made in the interest of the team or not, is what he should be thinking of...not the outside world where someone feels that he is being too attacking or he is being too defensive and all that. Those are opinions and people will give opinions."

(With PTI Inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma England vs India, 2025 Cricket Kapil Dev Shubman Gill