Amid reports about Rohit Sharma’s probable ODI retirement, former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has said that Yashasvi Jaiswal would be the best candidate to replace him as an opener. However, he also added that the former India captain wouldn’t retire now. India will take on England in the final ODI of the ongoing three-match series at Lord’s on Sunday, July 19. Rohit scored 37 runs at an average of 18.50 and a strike rate of 54.41 in the first two games as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Who can come in his place? I think you can’t look beyond Yashasvi Jaiswal, to begin with. I don’t think there is any better candidate than him because in whatever games he got, he scored a hundred against South Africa and a hundred against Afghanistan.”

“If he is scoring runs, you will want to keep him with you. So that is one thing that is going to play on everyone’s minds, that he is a good player and is worthy of becoming a part of this squad, but Rohit Sharma, at this point in time, I don’t think he is retiring at all,” he further added.

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However, Aakash Chopra stated that the reports about Rohit Sharma’s retirement have changed slightly as well.

“The headline has changed a little. The first day, it was that this would be his last match, but the second headline was that Rohit wants to continue, but the team management has made up their mind a little. Ever since Rohit Sharma lost his captaincy in ODIs, it started to seem like the selectors had made up their mind not to pick him. It might have been communicated as well,” he said.

“He went to Australia and scored a hundred and a seventy. Since then, I don’t think he has spoken about retirement even once, and I don’t think he will retire. If he scores a hundred, we would say, what wrong has Rohit Sharma done? The World Cup is still one-and-a-half years away. He is looking fit. He is hungry. He is scoring the runs. So if all those things are right, why would you ask Rohit Sharma to retire?” Chopra expressed.

“Secondly, will he not be selected? That question will also come in September. There is a possibility that he won’t be selected if he doesn’t score runs in this match. However, I don’t think he is getting retired, to begin with, and if he scores runs, he won’t retire. The guy will keep playing until he keeps scoring runs, whether he becomes 40 or 42,” he concluded.