Champions Trophy: If this is Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s last dance, India’s rebuild need not be painful

The smoke has dissolved from the pyrotechnics above Dubai International Stadium. The laser show has been switched off. The ticker tape has been swept from the field. Even Sunil Gavaskar has finished dancing his jig. But the show will go on, according to Rohit Sharma. “I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure that no rumours are spread moving forward,” he said after leading India to the Champions Trophy on Sunday night. “What is happening will keep happening.” Why change a winning formula? Under Rohit’s leadership, India have been to four finals in ICC events in a row. In the past two years, they have won two of three major tournaments, and won 23 out of 24 matches in the process. Before that, they also won the Asia Cup. It goes without saying they are the dominant side of the era. But how much do they have left in the tank, and what does the future look like after the stars vacate the scene? Experience counts. Between them, India had almost precisely double the amount of ODI caps (1,376) as their final opponents New Zealand (689). New Zealand put up a plucky fight, but India were the more assured side. This India side are the oldest great side of modern cricket. Shubman Gill , the vice captain, is the only player under 30. Rohit is 38 next month. Even their new guy, Varun Chakravarthy , is just starting out aged 33. The average age of the XI who won the Champions Trophy is 32. That is older than any of the teams who have won multiple ICC titles this century. For example, Australia had an average age of 31 and a half when they completed their treble of World Cup titles in 2007. History suggests moving on after a great side have grown old together can be fraught with problems. Collectively, England were 29 when they won the 2019 World Cup. Some of that side managed to stay together for them to later win a global T20 crown, too. Since then, though, the side has broken up and their form has fallen off a cliff. India themselves went 11 years between winning the Champions Trophy of 2013 and the T20 World Cup of 2024 . In 2011 they had won the World Cup on home soil with a side that had an average age of 29. The kept it together enough to take out that Champions Trophy two years later, but, again, there were lean times that followed the end of the Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and MS Dhoni era. Much as India’s fans would love it, the old guard cannot carry on forever. So, what is to follow them? If any side can replenish its stocks without undue stress, then surely it is India. When the Champions Trophy was in its knockout phase, the Indian Premier League posted a list on social media of the past winners of its emerging player award. There are not many misses among them. The early years include the likes of Rohit, Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer. They have not done too bad in the time since. More recently there are players such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, players who could foreseeably slot right in without the team missing a beat. For now at least, the Dad’s Army are going to stick around and drive standards, just as they have been doing all this time, according to Rohit. “The guys in the squad are quite mature, and they want to make the most of their time playing for India,” Rohit said. “There’s not too much work that is done there. At the end of the day, you’re representing your country, and everyone understands that. “My job is to make sure that whoever we pick to play gets the job done for the team. Like I said, there is a lot of hunger, even for the guys who have played a lot of cricket. “Obviously it rubs down to a lot of younger players as well. If they see some of their other senior members showing that hunger and going out there and doing the job again it shows this is how this team is built. “This is how we want to play our cricket, with a lot of hunger and a lot of passion. “These things are not supposed to be taught. It is very natural to a lot of guys. And luckily, in the squad we've got five or six guys who real stalwarts of this game and then their attitude, their hunger, their passion rubs down to the other guys as well. That makes the job a little easier for all of us.” And while they are all still enjoying it so much, why go? You are a long time retired, after all. “I am just so happy we were able to play as a unit and really enjoy ourselves,” Virat Kohli said after the final against New Zealand . “We have had such an amazing time as a team. It has been an amazing tournament for us.”

Champions Trophy: If this is Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s last dance, India’s rebuild need not be painful

All-conquering side is growing old together, but those waiting in the wings are of high-class, too