Former India speedster S Sreesanth has urged Gautam Gambhir not to intervene in the careers of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and instead back the stalwarts, encouraging them to play for as long as they want to.

Rohit and Kohli have retired from Tests as well as T20Is. Their Test retirements came in the month of May, just ahead of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. There was a notion among a section of fans that Gambhir played a role behind Rohit and Kohli's retirements from the longest format.

Sreesanth, who won the T20 World Cup in 2007 and the ODI World Cup in 2011 alongside Gambhir, said that Rohit and Kohli are performing better than most of the players in the current Indian setup.

"Gautam bhai aap coach ho aap kisi ko mat roko, especially Ro-Ko ko mat roko. Rohit aur Virat ka jo record hai behtareen hain aur jab tak woh khelna chahte hain unko khelne do. Because they are thousand times better than most of the players that are currently playing. So, I just want to say all the very best to Ro-Ko and please don't stop those brilliant legends Gauti (Gambhir)," Sreesanth was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times.

(Gautam bhai, you are the coach.

Rohit finished as the highest run-getter in the three-match ODI series against Australia in October. He was subsequently awarded Player of the Series. Meanwhile, Kohli scored a half-century in the third ODI against Australia after registering ducks in the first two games. In the ongoing series against the Proteas, Kohli has scored back-to-back centuries. Rohit, on the other hand, hit a fifty in the first ODI against South Africa.