There's no clarity over Rohit and Kohli participation in 2027 World Cup.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli called time on their T20I career following the T20 World Cup triumph in 2024, while they retired from Test cricket in May this year. The 50-over format remains their only commitment for Team India as of today.
There has been no ODI cricket for India since the end of Champions Trophy 2025 in March, and the next series is scheduled in Australia later this month.
On Saturday (October 4), the BCCI selectors announced India’s ODI squad for the upcoming Australia tour. The Ajit Agarkar-led panel removed the 38-year-old Rohit from ODI captaincy and handed over the reins to young opener Shubman Gill.
While Rohit and Kohli continue to feature in the 15-member squad as specialist batters, there’s no clarity whether the batting stalwarts are in the scheme of things for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.
Meanwhile, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has criticised the BCCI’s handling of the Rohit-Kohli ODI saga, questioning the board’s “lack of communication and sensitivity” over the issue.
Ashwin asked why the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel did not communicate their roadmap for the 2027 ODI World Cup when the duo announced their T20I retirement after the 2024 T20 World Cup.
"On one side is selection, on the other side is Kohli and Rohit. These are two sides of the same coin. Upon examining the selection, it is clear that the selectors are moving forward. However, in this process, they have two players who are nearing the end of their careers. However, one thing I would like to mention is that you need to improve the way you handle such players. It is very easy to say that they have grown old and they should retire. One of the reasons we feel this way is that we see many young players in the IPL performing well, and we believe they can replace these experienced players. However, during this process, one thing we often overlook is solid communication and knowledge transfer. I request that this be addressed in the future," Ashwin said while speaking on his YouTube channel.
"Knowledge transfer, or KT, doesn't mean Kohli and Rohit will be teaching Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma new shots; rather, it will show them how to handle pressure situations and deal with injuries. The way Kohli and Rohit batted in the 2023 ODI World Cup, they have nothing to prove, but does the KT have any space? There is actually no space for KT in Indian cricket because there is no transition phase. Rahul Dravid was a coach at one time, then Gautam Gambhir took over. We did not have any template that, after Dravid, Gambhir would be the coach, so taking a KT from Dravid was not possible. And after Gambhir, for whom will the KT go? If there is no roadmap from the management side, this cannot happen from the players' side," he added.
Ashwin further opined that the selectors made a mistake if they have conveyed their roadmap to Rohit Kohli right before the ODI series against Australia.
"I really hope the conversation has already taken place with Kohli and Rohit. But if it happened now, why didn't it happen during their retirement from T20Is in the World Cup last year? Had they been told then, they would have said, 'Okay, boss, do we want to play because this is what the team wants to take a direction and this is what the choices are?' But this leaves a lot of uninformed space, which leads to speculations. And there shouldn't be speculations. It should have been a straight conversation. If the communication is not clear and transparent, and if it is not done with a forward-looking vision, it leaves players in a very vulnerable position," he said.
Considering Rohit and Kohli’s contribution to Indian cricket, Ashwin feels the BCCI owed them clear communication.
"Given the magnitude of their contribution to Indian cricket, there was a need for communication, not only to them, but also to everyone, explaining how we communicated and what it entails. There are still two years until the World Cup, and if they do make it, I will take my hat off to both of them, because that would require immense commitment, as they won't get much cricket beyond the IPL. For them to achieve it, they need that opportunity, and they have deserved that respect. So that sensitivity was required," he concluded.