India's ODI captain Rohit Sharma gives strong signal about retirement rumours

The last week has been about the possible retirements of India's senior duo Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. With both of them on the wrong side of their 30s and the next ODI World Cup still two years away, speculations are that their international careers could be over soon.

In fact, officials in the BCCI had expressed their surprise earlier this year when Rohit at the post-match press conference of the Champions Trophy final had remarked that he wasn't done with the format. Reportedly, the selectors were expecting him and perhaps, Kohli, to retire after that showpiece event. However, neither of the senior men have thrown in the towel just yet. While they both announced their Test retirements in the month of May, reports suggest that they are keen to continue in the 50-over format. A week after reports surfaced about Kohli starting his training sessions for the upcoming home season, Rohit has also given a massive signal from his side.

The 38-year-old was in London to watch the fifth Test between England and India at The Oval. Following that fixture, Rohit flew back home and has started his practice with friend and mentor Abhishek Nayar. It must be noted that Nayar had served as assistant coach for Kolkata Knight Riders and for the Indian team recently. Nayar's technical knowledge and mentoring skills have already become a part of Indian cricket folklore with several cricketers, both young and old, confessing to how much he has helped in their betterment. Rohit himself had a short stint during IPL 2025 where he worked on some minor changes to his T20 technique and then endured a moderate run of scores as well.

Interestingly, Nayar's final series in India's coaching setup was also Rohit's last in the longest format, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Like he mentioned after the Champions Trophy final, Rohit intends to continue playing ODI cricket till the 2027 World Cup, possibly with the hope of ending his career with another ICC title to complete the set. Currently, he has led India to a T20 World Cup win and Champions Trophy glory. Understandably, the pain of finishing runners-up in the 2023 ODI World Cup held at home still haunts Rohit and he along with Kohli are keen to amend that. While the latter has seen an ODI World Cup win in 2011, albeit as a junior player, Rohit wasn't part of that squad at all.

With Kohli and Rohit having expressed their intentions, the road ahead is tricky for the selectors. India's next ODI assignment is only in October when they travel to Australia for a three-match series. One of the narratives being put forward amidst the retirement rumours is the fact that this Australia series could be make-or-break for the veteran duo. That, however, sounds unrealistic, given that they have both been in good form in ODIs recently.

The BCCI, selection committee and head coach Gautam Gambhir will have a puzzle to solve on this topic in the coming days. One thing is for sure - Kohli and Rohit aren't in any mood to give up just yet.