With the appointment of Shubman Gill as India's new Test skipper, Indian Cricket has entered a new era, at least when it comes to red-ball cricket. With the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, India's Test playing XI against England, starting June 20, will be very different, and young one from the past decade. Rohit and Kohli, who also announced T20I retirements after the team's T20 World Cup win in 2024, will now be playing only ODI format.
With 27 ODIs left to be played by India before the ODI World Cup 2027, there is a high possibility that Kohli and Rohit will be part of the showpiece event set to be played in South Africa and Zimbabwe. That also remains the only ICC Trophy that they have not won together. However, with age not by their side - Rohit will be 40 and Kohli will be 38 in 2027, the team management may ask the duo to retire from ODIs, to make way for youngsters.
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Kohli might also play in the ODI World Cup 2027 due to his phenomenal fitness, the same cannot be said about Rohit, who played this year's IPL season as an impact player majorly.
Rohit Sharma not to remain ODI captain till World Cup 2027
According to reports, it is almost certain that Rohit Sharma is unlikely to remain the captain of the ODI team till 2027 WC. BCCI is keen to appoint a successor for the veteran batter in ODIs. When MS Dhoni announced his retirement in 2019, then the selectors in charge had already announced Kohli as the captain in ODIs in 2017. The legendary batter got two solid years to form the core team for the 2019 WC. However, for the first time, Indian Cricket is working on the theory of split captaincy.
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Rohit Sharma is captain for ODIs, while Suryakumar Yadav and Gill are leaders in T20Is and Test cricket. However, it may not be the case for too long as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel is likely to take a call.
"Quite frankly, a lot of us thought Rohit wanted to move away from the ODI format after winning the Champions Trophy. There have been no discussions between Rohit and the selectors over his ODI future," a BCCI source told The Hindustan Times.
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"One more thing. I am not going to retire from this format. Just to make sure there are no rumors spread moving forward. Thank you so much," Rohit had said after India defeated New Zealand.
While Rohit Sharma has done a brilliant job in ODIs so far - taking India to the ODI WC final in 2023 and winning the Champions Trophy in 2025, the Agarkar-led panel wants a skipper who is available for 24x7 in the white-ball formats. If the Bangladesh tour goes according to the plan, then India will next face them in a three-match ODI series in August.
