Speculation still rages about the ODI futures of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is not keen to take a call on the two veterans yet.
With the August Bangladesh series having been cancelled, India's next 50-over assignment is a tour of Australia away from October 19–25. Whether Kohli and Rohit will be part of ODIs after that series is a dark horse.
A suggestion being considered within the BCCI is to include both players in a pair of India A matches at home as a warm-up for the Australia tour. This would overlap with the visit of the Australia A squad — featuring Jake Fraser-McGurk — for three List A matches in Kanpur on September 30, October 3, and October 5 while the senior men's team is playing their first Test against the West Indies in Ahmedabad.
With a total count of 83 ODI centuries and more than 25,000 runs, the pair's endurance until the October 2027 ODI World Cup — at which point Kohli would be 39 and Rohit would be 40 — is a topic of discussion in Indian cricket circles.
"Clearly, if they (Rohit and Kohli) have something planned, they would intimate the BCCI top brass as they did ahead of the England Test tour. But from the point of view of an Indian team, the next major task is the T20 World Cup in February and preparation leading up to it. The short-term priority will be to send the best possible team for the Asia Cup T20 competition, keeping fingers crossed that all players are available and fit," a BCCI source informed PTI on condition of anonymity.
Guilty of not giving hasty calls, the BCCI will measure public opinion and the psyche of cricketing circles before taking any call on the two icons, whose following extends to millions.
Their last competitive action was in the Champions Trophy in Dubai, where Kohli made a century in a group-stage run chase against Pakistan, and Rohit recorded a fluent half-century in the run chase in the final. Both have not played since the end of the IPL.
Kohli, meanwhile settled in London, posted an Instagram story of an indoor nets session recently, indicating that his preparations have picked up. Rohit, too, was in the UK on a break but has since returned to Mumbai and is likely to begin his preparations soon.
There have been reports of a potential farewell game for the duo in Sydney on October 25, but the BCCI source refuted any such idea at this juncture.
For Indian domestic 50-over cricket, the Vijay Hazare Trophy is planned from December 24, 2025, to January 18, 2026. Still, prior to it, India will be hosting South Africa in a three-match ODI series from 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 pair play those three A games, or even two, before the series against South Africa be the question. More importantly still is if Ajit Agarkar and his teammates would want that,"* the source further said.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy will also clash with India's home ODI series against New Zealand from January 11–18, so even if Kohli and Rohit do play in the domestic tournament, they would only be available for two or three games.
Read also| Virat Kohli Resumes Training in London, Expresses Gratitude to GT’s Assistant Coach
