By Admin 
Former Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi has once again given a big statement regarding Indian cricket. This time he has made a scathing attack on Team India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and has also openly supported Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Afridi said that these two players are the backbone of the Indian team and the team will continue to need them till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Kohli-Rohit are the backbone of the Indian team: Afridi
Afridi said that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are one of the most reliable ODI batsmen not only in India but in the world. Seeing the strong performance of both the players in the recent series against South Africa, he clearly said that both of them will remain the “backbone” of the Indian team till the 2027 ODI World Cup. He said, “It is true that Virat and Rohit are the backbone of the Indian batting line-up. Looking at their recent performance, it is clear that they can easily play till the 2027 World Cup.”
Can get rest against weak teams
Afridi also said that India must play Kohli and Rohit in big tournaments and important series. However, if the team is playing against a weak opposition, then both of them can be rested to give opportunities to new players.
Direct attack on Gambhir’s thinking
The most talked about part of Afridi’s statement was the one in which he took on Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir. There have been many disputes on the field between Afridi and Gambhir. He said, “The way Gautam started as a coach, it seemed that he thought he was always right. After some time, it was proved that you cannot be right every time.”
This statement has come at a time when Gambhir has already made it clear that the 2027 World Cup is still far away and the team wants to give a new direction to the young players by giving them more opportunities.
Afridi happy when Rohit’s record is broken
Afridi also talked about the record of Rohit Sharma in which the Indian captain overtook his record of most sixes in ODI. He said, “Records are made only to be broken. I am happy that the player who broke my record is a classy batsman like Rohit.” Rohit had left Afridi (351) behind by hitting his 355th six in Raipur ODI against South Africa.
Praise for Rohit’s game
Recalling the old days, Afridi said that when he played for Deccan Chargers in IPL 2008, he had realized that Rohit would one day become a big name in India. “He had that class in his batting that has the power to win matches on any day,” he said.