Wanted: More game time for Ro-Ko if they want to play 2027 World Cup

The jury is out on whether the hype over the comeback of ‘Ro-Ko’ in international cricket had been a misplaced one. No sooner the Big Two had failed to fire in testing conditions at the Optus Stadium in Perth, the noise in social media was that their road to the 2027 ICC World Cup had just got tougher.

Sunday barbaad (Spoilt Sunday), screamed one of them while memes have started flooding the internet – with a few nasty ones showing Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar having a quiet chuckle. This is what the so called ‘freedom’ of digital space has done to the cricket fans and former greats of the Sachin Tendulkar generation or the ones before that should be grateful that they did not have to contend with it.

The manner of their dismissals have already been dissected again and again. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had spent very little time in the middle (14 and eight balls, respectively) to draw any conclusions about their current form – with the former being forced to play at a hard length delivery from Josh Hazlewood to be caught at the slips. Kohli, on the other hand, was done in while trying an expansive drive against a Mitchell Marsh delivery slanted across him.

INDvAUS: Enter Shubman Gill the captain as spotlight stays on Big Two

It was an anti-climax no doubt – but then, one has to fall back on the old adage of nobody being bigger than the game. Yes, one shouldn’t draw a conclusion on the basis of one innings and that too after a hiatus of over seven months in international cricket, but there’s no doubting the need of more game time for the two white ball greats. While one cannot comment on the compulsions of their retirement from Test cricket, both have decided to continue in a format which is low on the priority list of most Test playing countries and hence demands more intense preparation.

Professional sport is an unforgiving arena, more so cricket, where all it takes is one ball to dismiss the best batter. While the two icons have prepared to the best of their abilities – what with Rohit subjecting himself to a punishing regimen of shedding weight and sharpening his game at the nets under the watchful eyes of old friend Abhishek Nayar, reports filtering in from England is that there was no let-up in Kohli’s effort during his family time overseas.

Such an exercise is fine in terms of preparation, but match practice is what both stalwarts had been sorely lacking as they went into this short but demanding series – with the spotlight trained on them. There are reports that the Gambhir-Agarkar duo want them to figure in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and there should be no egos at work should they be a part of it. A humble suggestion would also be to make themselves available, albeit sparingly, for some red ball cricket as well (Ranji Trophy) if the duo are serious about prolonging their international careers.

The question, however, is whether both Rohit and Virat are ready to work that extra yard. When asked about what he did to keep fit after the IPL ended, Virat did not sound apologetic during a chat with Star Sports: ‘’Well, to be honest, the amount of cricket I’ve played over the last 15-20 years, I’ve actually not rested at all, if that makes sense. I’ve probably played the most number of games in the last 15 years in international cricket, combining the IPL together as well. So for me, it was a very refreshing time off.’’

For now, all eyes will be on Adelaide and Sydney to see if there is a comeback loading…