"We want to give them a great send off" - Cricket Australia's huge statement on Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma for AUS vs IND 2025 ODI series

Cricket Australia (CA) CEO Todd Greenberg acknowledged Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma possibly visiting Australia for the final time in the home ODI series against India later this year. Greenberg shared his excitement about wanting to give the legendary duo a fitting send-off if it turns out to be their final tour of Australia.

The pair retired from T20Is after India's triumphant 2024 T20 World Cup campaign in the West Indies and the USA. They also announced their Test retirements last month. At 36 and 38, Kohli and Rohit will play only the ODI format moving forward.

Talking to the reporters about the exciting cricketing action coming up in Australia, Greenberg said (via TOI):

"This might be a summer like we’ve never seen before, just in terms of the amount of content. And if you think about the quality of the players coming, particularly from India — this might be the last time we get to see Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma play in our country. If that’s the case — who knows, it might not be — but if it is, we want to make sure we give them a great send-off and acknowledge the incredible contribution they've made to international cricket."

He added:

"I think we saw real momentum last year on the back of the BGT series — you know, some record-breaking ticket sales. And I anticipate that we’ll see a number of sellouts across the summer, really starting in August and going through until March."

The itinerary has India playing Australia in three ODIs at Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney from October 19 to 25. The Men in Blue will also play five T20Is after the ODI series from October 29 to November 8.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma played their final Tests in Australia

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma played their final Test matches in India's 2024-25 tour of Australia. Unfortunately, the duo struggled massively with the bat, resulting in India's 1-3 series defeat.

Kohli started the series with a bang, scoring a sublime second-innings century in the opening Test at Perth. However, things went downhill as he finished the five Tests with only 190 runs at a dismal average of 23.75.

Meanwhile, Rohit endured an even worse tour, scoring only 31 runs in three Tests at an average of 6.20. The then-skipper even dropped himself for the series finale due to his woeful batting form.