There is a lot of conjecture around Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s future in One-Day International cricket. However, if one believes the Indian cricket board’s decision-makers, there is no pressing need to make a decision on the two greats right away.
India’s next ODI assignment will be an away series against Australia from October 19–25 after the cancellation of the August series against Bangladesh.
Indian cricket thrives on narratives, and the current one revolves around whether Kohli and Rohit — with a combined 83 ODI centuries and over 25,000 runs — can stay the course until the 2027 ODI World Cup in October, by which time they will be 39 and 40 respectively.
“Obviously, if they (Rohit and Kohli) have something in mind, they would tell the BCCI brass like they did before the England Test tour. But from an Indian team’s perspective, the next big assignment is the T20 World Cup in February and preparations before that. The immediate focus will be on sending the best team for the Asia Cup T20 tournament, hoping all players are fit and available,” on condition of anonymity, a BCCI source with knowledge of the developments told PTI.
The BCCI rarely makes decisions in haste, preferring instead to read the mood and gauge public sentiment before acting — a cautious approach made necessary by the immense fan following of the two players.
Their last outing together in an ICC event was the Champions Trophy in Dubai, where Kohli struck a century in a group-stage chase against Pakistan, while Rohit produced a classy half-century in the final run chase.
Both, though, haven’t participated in competitive cricket since the Indian Premier League ended.
As a sign that he has begun training, Kohli, who currently resides in London, recently shared an Instagram story following an indoor nets practice.
Recently returned to Mumbai, Rohit, who was also in the UK on a break after the IPL, is scheduled to begin training in the coming days.
Although some media reports suggest the BCCI might offer the duo a farewell match in Sydney on October 25, a board source familiar with the matter clarified that no such discussions have taken place so far.
In terms of competing for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the source stated that the national One-Day Championship will begin on December 24, 2025, and that a three-match ODI series against South Africa will begin on November 30.
“Even if they play Vijay Hazare, before that there would already be six ODIs that will be played. In between the Australia ODIs and the South Africa ODIs, there is an India A series against South Africa A where three List A games (50 overs) will be held at Rajkot on November 13, 16 and 19 respectively.
“Now, will the duo want to play those three A games, or possibly two, before the South Africa series is the question. Even more important is whether Ajit Agarkar and his colleagues would want that,” he said.
“Overlapping the Vijay Hazare Trophy (December 24, 2025 – January 18, 2025) will be the three ODIs between India and New Zealand (January 11, 14, 18). So even if they play the Vijay Hazare Trophy, it can’t be for more than two to three games,” he added.
