“I don’t think they will be playing” - Indian legend’s massive claim on Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma’s ODI future

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has weighed in on the ODI futures of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after they retired from the other two international formats. Gavaskar candidly acknowledged that he doesn't see the veteran pair playing the 2027 World Cup but reckons the weight of runs could prove useful.

Rohit and Kohli had announced their T20I retirements last year after the format's World Cup. The former walked away from the longest format, and the ex-captain followed him almost immediately, even as the England tour looms large. With the decorated duo failing to win the 2023 World Cup at home, they are likely targeting winning the next one in 2027.

When asked about the pair's possibility of playing the 2027 World Cup, the 75-year-old stated:

"No, I don't think they will be playing. I am being very honest. But, who knows, in the next year or so, if they strike a rich vein of form, and if they keep scoring hundreds and hundreds, even God can't drop them."

Kohli and Rohit were the top two run-getters during the 2023 World Cup hosted by India, aggregating 765 and 597 runs, respectively. However, Australia stunned them in the final in Ahmedabad to seal their sixth trophy and defeated India for the first time in the tournament.

"There would have been discussions and conversations with them" - Sunil Gavaskar on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retiring from Test cricket

Sunil Gavaskar. (Image Credits: Getty)

Speaking about the pair drawing curtains on their Test careers, Gavaskar said discussions would have happened with selectors and management. He pointed out that nobody would have wanted Kohli and Rohit dropped from the team.

"That's exactly what would have happened. There would have been discussions and conversations with them. They would have had talks with the selectors, chairman of selectors and senior board officials. That's why I said this was not a surprise, at least not to me. Definitely, there would have been conversations with both of them because the one thing nobody would have wanted to see was them being dropped from the team. Nobody would have wanted that."

With Rohit retiring from Test cricket, Team India will also have to announce a new captain for the England tour.