When Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg was asked if Big Bash will woo Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

Ravichandran Ashwin might well have been just a canary in the coalmine after he was brought into the Big Bash League, though foreign franchise leagues will need to outbid Sharma and Kohli’s IPL value earnings, to persuade them to retire from all formats (including IPL) to land them.

Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg set the pot stirring when he told the Aussie media that India’s biggest stars would continue to get wooed to join and play in the Big Bash. This was even before the Saturday night fever, that highlighted the duo’s popularity as they set up a vintage chase in a dead rubber, full-house Third ODI watched by legions of blue shirts.

As per cricket.com.au, hours before Sharma and Kohli sealed their last outing in Australia with big runs, and before captain Gill spoke of their future and how their game time will be managed, Greenberg was answering questions about how the BBL planned to net the big silvery shining fish. Greenberg was asked if it was conceivable that Cricket Australia could bring a player of their calibre to the BBL, especially after Sydney Thunder pulled off the recent Ravichandran Ashwin coup.

“I think in the short to medium term, I think it is realistic,” CA’s chief executive said. “We’re going to keep the dialogue open.”

“Ravi(chandran) Ashwin coming is a really important moment for the BBL and it will highlight the strength of bringing Indian players into the league,” Greenberg was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“What that manifests over time, I think, is to be seen,” he continued. “Some of that will depend on whether we take private capital into the BBL which is an open conversation for us at the moment. But I think you’re going to see an enormous explosion of interest around the Thunder this year on the back of Ravi Ashwin playing. There’s one thing the best leagues have all over the world in every sport – they have access to the best players, and the BBL should be no different to that.”

Bringing in private capital will be a massively ambitious step for CA, but the website wrote, ‘The noise emanating from the heaving SCG reached fever pitch during the evening as Rohit and Kohli, along with their fanatical supporters, turned a supposed dead rubber into a victory parade for two demi-gods playing what was almost certainly their final international games in Australia. It was a reminder of the unmatched fervour the Indian diaspora have for the sport. It was also apparent just how much the game has changed over the course of the pair’s careers.’

Since Sharma first sparkled in Australia 17-and-a-half years ago, 81 men’s internationals have taken place, abd cricket.com.au quoted that only one (the 2020-21 Boxing Day Test) featured neither Sharma or Kohli in a time spanning eight bilateral tours and two World Cups. The two have scored 18 Australian tons between them (Kohli 12, Rohit 6) and close to 6,000 runs, as per the website. Kohli (3,690) outscores Travis Head (3,540) for runs made in Australia.

“I’ve always loved coming here,” Rohit told Fox Cricket later. “I enjoy playing cricket here in Australia. Fond memories of 2008 and nice way to finish getting that knock and getting that win as well. I don’t know if we’ll be coming back to Australia, but it was fun all these years that we played here. A lot of good memories, bad memories, but all in all, I’ll take the cricket that I played here.”

The Saturday game had left a daze. ‘The clamour to see the pair’s farewell was palpable hours before the day-night contest,’ cricket.com.au wrote. ‘Waves of blue-clad fans were lining up on Driver Avenue well before midday to get into the ground in Sydney’s spring sunshine. During India’s warm-up, every Rohit catch and every Kohli throw-down was met with a rumble of approval. Scores of fans waited into the night to see them leave.’

At Sydney, Kohli’s first single and a fist pumped drew cheers, after his duck pair.
“You score so many runs in international cricket but then the game shows you everything even at this stage, almost 37 in not many days, and I feel like I don’t know how to get a run,” Kohli joked, but the cheers he got when Gill was dismissed and returned to the dressing room, showed the power of his popularity, which CA will be keen on to ring out in the BBL.

Fans had arrived knowing this was their last chance to see their heroes in action.

“Everyone knows Virat. There’s a lot of following for him,” Tanveer Sangha,was quoted as saying by Cricket.com.au. “A lot of people from every country have taken a lot out of (Kohli’s career), especially (those) with Indian heritage. I don’t know if there’ll be another player like that.”

That they come as a strange hyphenated package beyond the Ro-Ko broadcast branding, was attested by Kohli. “When we bat together, of course we understand we’re probably the most experienced players now, but even back in the day, we used to think, if we have a big partnership, the kind of strokes we can play, we can really take the game away from the opposition,” said Kohli.

“I think it all started from that 2013 series against Australia at home, when we really started getting those big partnerships together and really taking the game on from then on. It was pretty clear the opposition also knew if these guys are in for 20 overs together, any total is chaseable and the game’s never done in the opposition’s favour.”

Cricket.com.au concluded: ‘Now every T20 league wants to be the first to sign the likes of Rohit and Kohli, who are both retired from Tests and T20Is. Ashwin is a strong first step but it took him stepping away from the IPL as well as international cricket for it to happen.’