Rohit and Virat have retired from T-20 International and Test cricket.
Former India coach and legendary spinner Anil Kumble has said that it will not be easy for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to maintain the required fitness level in ODI cricket, especially after both of them have retired from Test and T20 Internationals. But at the same time Kumble also stressed that the achievements of these two legends should be celebrated in the remaining time of their careers.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirement from Test cricket in June 2025, 10 months after India’s T20 World Cup win. Now both these legends are only available for ODI international cricket. But there are many questions about their ODI future, and it is not clear how long they will continue to play in this format. The next big 50-over tournament is the 2027 World Cup, and both of them last played ODIs in the Champions Trophy in March 2025.
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Both of them performed brilliantly in that tournament. Kohli top-scored in the semi-final against Australia, while Rohit won the Player of the Match title with a knock of 76 runs in the final against New Zealand. Still, uncertainty remains about their long-term ODI commitment.
Anil Kumble gave a big statement about Rohit and Virat’s ODI career
Anil Kumble said during an event in Mumbai on Monday, “In terms of preparing for ODI cricket, it is not easy to just do what you have to do or what is going to happen six months later. It will be a challenge no matter who you are and how well you have built your career over the last few years, but they are champion players, so they know how they have to play and it is important to celebrate champion players as long as they play. You will go into detail about every single performance, how they should have played or how they could have played.”
He further said, “The important thing is to celebrate whatever happens together with both the players. Ideally, they would like to play till the 2027 World Cup, because something like this (India did not win the ODI World Cup since 2011) has not happened. We saw the 2023 (World Cup) final, in which Australia won the trophy.” Rohit Sharma has never won the ODI World Cup. In such a situation, he wants to give himself another chance, as he missed the trophy as vice-captain in 2019 and as captain in 2023.
