'Savour them as much as you can' - Former England skipper gives India reality check with blunt 'no Rohit, no Kohli' statement

India, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, are taking on England in the first ODI of the three-match series. The men in blue are playing without the modern-day batting great Indian batting pillar, Virat Kohli. The batting stalwart couldn’t make it to the playing XI due to his strapped knee just before the ODI series opener.

Besides Kohli’s absence, Rohit’s batting form is also a big concern for Team India as he got dismissed at the score of just 2 runs in the first ODI against the visitors. The concerns surrounding Indian cricket’s two modern-day cricketing greats will also be a big headache for the Indian camp in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Meanwhile, the former England skipper Kevin Pietersen came up with a hard-hitting reality check for Indian cricket fans while speaking about the dusk of two great cricketing careers, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.  The former England great also spoke about the fact that both the batting greats are not left with much time to serve their national side.

“These are two modern-day all-time greats” – Kevin Pietersen

Notably, Pietersen has been quite vocal about the developments in Indian cricket and the game of Indian players. The South Africa-born former English great reflected on the importance of Rohit and Kohli for Team India in the remaining time of their glorious international careers.

“During a media interaction yesterday, I said that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are human. They, too, can fail. I mean, these are two modern-day all-time greats. And there will come a time when, soon, there will be no Virat Kohli, no Rohit Sharma. It will be a sad day for Indian cricket. So, savour them as much as you can,” said Pietersen to the official broadcaster just before the toss in the first ODI between India and England.

Speaking of the action of the game in the first ODI between India and England, the hosts bundled Jos Buttler’s men at the score of 248 runs in 47.4 overs in the first innings. Skipper Jos Buttler and young batter Jacob Bethell scored the crucial half-centuries, scoring 52 and 51 runs, respectively.

The veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and the debutant pacer, Harshit Rana scalped 3 wickets each, alongside a wicket each bagged by Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav.

While chasing the target, the men in blue had scored 54 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 8.1 overs, with vice-captain Shubman Gill and star number four batter Shreyas Iyer in the middle at the individual scores of 7  and 23 runs.