Kapil Dev hails Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma as 'irreplaceable' in Indian cricket

Former India captain Kapil Dev has praised Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, calling them "irreplaceable" and comparing their status to legends Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. According to Dev, no one can take their place in the Indian team across any format.

Kohli and Sharma have had long, illustrious careers with India, making significant contributions to the sport. 

"No one can take Virat and Rohit's place in the Indian team in any format. They have been a huge servant of Indian cricket and it was a happy farewell for them. The stature that Virat has made of himself in all formats, he will surely be missed in T20Is. Both are as same as Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. They are irreplaceable," Dev told IANS.

After India's T20 World Cup win, Kohli announced his retirement during a post-match ceremony, saying it was time for the next generation to take over. Rohit Sharma also confirmed his retirement from the shorter format in a post-match press conference.

Their retirements were not entirely unexpected. Neither player had featured in any T20Is following India's semi-final defeat in the 2022 T20 World Cup, and they only resumed playing T20Is in January this year, focusing on the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Kohli ended his T20I career with 125 matches, making him India's second-highest run-scorer in the format with 4,188 runs at an average of 48.69 and a strike rate of 137.04.

Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, retired as the highest scorer in T20 internationals with 4,231 runs in 159 matches. He also holds the record for the most centuries (five) in T20Is and won two T20 World Cup titles: the inaugural one as a player in 2007 and another as captain in 2024.