Indian megastars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are set to return to action in the upcoming three-match ODI series against England, starting on Tuesday in Birmingham. Both the legendary players have retired from Test and T20I cricket, keeping themselves available only in ODIs and eyeing their presence at the 2027 ODI World Cup. Rohit Sharma was recently seen in action during India's three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, smacking 294 runs at an average of 58.80.
However, Virat Kohli missed the series due to injury, but he will be eager to get some runs under his belt in this series, strengthening his place in the squad. Meanwhile, ahead of the first ODI against England, Gill spoke about the senior duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, saying that both of them remain the cornerstone of India's batting.
"Virat bhai and Rohit bhai have been the backbone of the Indian batting line-up for the past decade. They remain a very integral part of our team. The experience and skill they bring are obviously very valuable. We have seen what they have done over the past decade consistently in different conditions in different tournaments and on different occasions," Gill said at the pre-match press conference.
Ahead of the series, Gill was seen having a discussion with Kohli at the nets. Touching upon that, Gill revealed that they were discussing combinations for the World Cup in South Africa.
"As I said, we were talking about the combination. Which combination would be best for us in South Africa, which players are there who may not be in the team right now but can help us in the future, which bowlers, which all-rounders, which spinners. We were talking about all of that," he said.
Gill was also against the idea of reducing ODIs to 40 overs; instead, he brought up the idea of bringing back tri-series and quadrangular tournaments.
"I grew up watching 50-over cricket a lot, and it remained a very integral part of my childhood. When I think of the World Cup, the first thing that crosses my mind is the 50-over World Cup. For me, the 50-over World Cup is the most prestigious World Cup. I don't think it should be changed to 40 overs."
"One thing is that we used to play a lot of triangular series, and it was really exciting to watch. India, Australia and Sri Lanka used to play those tournaments. So I think if we get a chance to play in a triangular series because two teams are playing at a different venue. So, if we get a chance to play, it will be interesting because you are not playing one team continuously. If we want to make this format more interesting, instead of having bilateral series, we can have triangular or quadrangular series. That'll be interesting to play and to watch," he said.