Mithun Manhas says fitness and performance, not age, should decide Kohli and Rohit's futures

BCCI president Mithun Manhas has said fitness and performance, not age, should govern India's selection for the 2027 ODI World Cup, while stressing that the final call belongs to the selectors and the coaches

Speaking to Sportstar, Manhas addressed the question that has hung over India's one-day side since their two senior batters stepped away from the other formats: whether Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will still be in the squad when the tournament is played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in October and November 2027.

He was careful not to put the board's weight behind either man. "As far as the BCCI is concerned, we are not in a position to comment, as it all depends on the selectors and the coaches," Manhas said.

His own view was less guarded. "From my perspective, fitness and performance should be the criteria for selection, definitely not age," he said.

The board stops short of a guarantee

Manhas set out a single test rather than a list. "If someone is fit to play, performing well and winning games for the country, that should be the only criterion we focus on," he said.

That is a statement of principle rather than a selection promise. The BCCI president does not pick the side, and Manhas was explicit that the panel and the coaching staff hold that responsibility.

India's selection committee is itself newly constituted, with Pragyan Ojha installed as chairman and Ramesh Powar added to the five-man panel earlier this month.

Two careers measured against a calendar

The arithmetic is what has driven the speculation. Rohit turns 40 in April 2027, several months before the first ball, and Kohli turns 39 during the tournament itself.

Both have retired from Test and T20I cricket and now play for India in one format only, so each one-day series carries more selection weight than it once did.

Neither has looked short of runs. Kohli made an unbeaten 139 against West Indies in India's most recent ODI assignment, and Rohit scored a century in the same series.

Seniors around a new captain

Manhas framed the pair less as a selection problem than as support for Shubman Gill, who leads India in ODIs and would be taking a side into a World Cup for the first time.

"Having Virat, Hardik (Pandya) and Rohit in the side will definitely help him," he said, pointing to the years Gill has already spent captaining Gujarat Titans in the IPL.

"Shubman is a level-headed guy, and I think having the seniors around him will be an advantage," Manhas added.

Leadership shared across the side

He also described a captaincy that need not sit with one player. Manhas suggested Jasprit Bumrah could take charge of the bowling unit, with another member of the side leading in the field.

The reasoning is workload. Spreading the day-to-day decisions, on his account, lightens the load on a captain managing a long tournament across three host countries.

A build-up with a year to run

Nothing Manhas said settles the squad. India are in New Zealand at present, and a long one-day programme stands between now and the naming of a party for South Africa.

What the remarks do is set the terms of the argument. On the BCCI president's reading, the case for or against Kohli and Rohit is one to be settled by runs and by fitness, and not by the year in which either was born.

India's squad for the tournament is not due for many months, leaving Kohli and Rohit a long run of one-day cricket in which to answer the only question Manhas says should matter.

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