'Don't push them out' - Chris Gayle backs Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli to continue playing Test cricket

Former West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle backed India's stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, ahead of the upcoming Test series in England. There are speculations regarding their absence from the team because, as per reports, the Board is planning not to include them in the squad. 

While nothing is confirmed yet, there were rumours regarding Rohit not playing in the series because of his current form. However, Kohli is set to play in the Test series. The red-ball captain struggled to score runs in Australia in December 2024 and then rested himself in the last match. Meanwhile, Kohli's entire series wasn't a good one either.

Despite scoring a century in the very first game, Kohli found himself struggling with the bat in the rest of the series. He had an incredible record in Australia but somehow failed to show his true potential this time, scoring just 190 runs in ten innings. Chris Gayle took a stand for both the batters and said that they should be given a chance in the upcoming series. 

"Of course they are still going, these guys still have a lot of cricket in them. Don't push them out. The cricketing world needs those guys as much as possible. It is great to have them around still. They still bring a lot of value to international cricket. There is always going to be someone after, but the longer they are around, the better it is for the cricketing world," said Chris Gayle as quoted by NDTV.

In the 2024-25 season, Rohit scored just 164 runs in eight matches at an average of 10.93 with the best score of 52, while Kohli scored 382 runs in 10 matches at an average of 22.87, with just a century and fifty each.

The England tour begins on June 20 in Leeds, 26 days after the IPL ends giving enough time for the players to rest, regroup and train for the series.