Like to see Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma play in 2027 ODI World Cup: New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell

MUMBAI: It seems that even the international cricketers community is keen that modern-day legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, currently in blazing form, go on and play in the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia seems to be settled.

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Set to lead the New Zealand ODI team for a three-match series in India which starts at Vadodara from Jan 11, New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell was forthright when quizzed about whether he sees the classy but ageing pair in the mega event, which is still 22 months from now.



"I'd like to see them play in the World Cup. They're obviously still playing very good cricket so there's no reason to stop. They're both playing beautifully, so why not? Their records speak for themselves, both individually and as a team. They've been involved in some great Indian sides and led that side with the bat. You'd be silly to underestimate them, that's for sure," Bracewell said here on Tuesday at the Willingdon Sports Club here, where NZC, in partnership with TCM Sports, hosted an exclusive New Zealand Cricket Golf Day.

The ODI series will be followed by the five-match T20I series from Jan 21. Bracewell said that the Black Caps relished coming to India due to the passion of the sport in this part of the world and the top quality of the home side. "Every time we come to India, there's always amazing crowds here and one thing that stands out for me is just the love of cricket. I find that when we're doing well we still get supported, which is a bit of a rarity when you go to some (other) places in the world. It's always a pleasure to come here and play cricket and test ourselves against some of the best players in the world," said the 34-year-old allrounder, who has played just 40 ODIs.


He pointed out that the Kiwis also love the challenge of playing on some different surfaces that they encounter in India, even in a white-ball series.

The Kiwis last toured India for a white-ball series in Jan-Feb 2023. They were blanked 3-0 in the ODIs and 3-1 in the T20Is. "You get a varied degree of surfaces here. I remember, we toured here not long ago and played on a very turning wicket in Lucknow (NZ made 99-8 in 20 overs on a poor surface (in the second T20I) there, lost that match by six wickets), and then played on some more favourable wickets in different places. I think you get a wide variety of pitches, and it's a good test of you as a player to be able to play in all different conditions and that's one of the great things of international cricket. You get to play on some tough pitches for batting and then some more favourable ones as well," Bracewell said.

One big name the Black Caps will miss in their ODI line-up for this tour is left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who has often troubled India's best batters, particularly Kohli, during their previous white-ball tour of India. Santner will arrive later as the captain of the New Zealand T20I side. "It's a tricky one! Whenever you're missing players of, say, Mitch’s calibre, you're always going to be struggling to replace them so you're asking guys to come in and do their role as best as they can. You're never going to be able to replace a guy like that. But if everyone mucks in and does their little bit, then hopefully we can all work together and achieve great things on this tour," said Bracewell.

An ODI series before the T20 World Cup, starting in India and Sri Lanka from Feb 7, tends to lose lustre, but the Black Caps are focused on putting their best foot forward in it. "You have to be where your feet are and take care of what's in front of you. We've obviously got an important one-day series coming up against India. It's going to be a huge challenge for us, but one we're really excited for. One-day cricket has a lot of different skill sets involved in it. You have to be able to bat for long periods of time and then apply pressure. So I think there's a great skill set there that you can use whatever format that you're playing, one-day cricket is a true test of your skill as a player," said Bracewell.


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