Virat Kohli has confirmed that 2027 World Cup will be his last for Indian team.
Kohli is just like Rohit Sharma; both of them have become one-format players at the international level, owing to their retirements from Tests and T20Is.
Kohli is one of the greatest players of ODI cricket, and his skills in this format might have improved in the last two years owing to his liberty to play in only one format of the game.
Virat Kohli talked about his aspirations for the upcoming 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia and stated that along with winning the ODI World Cup, scoring the winning runs in the final would be a nice way to finish up.
"I've always been someone who, every game that we play, I want to be the guy who wins us the game—so that's never going to go away from me. I am made that way. So, my goal [at the World Cup] is to win as many games as I can for the team—60-70% of the games would be phenomenal. My dream is to play a match-winning, finishing knock in the finals, like chasing a score. That's the ideal scenario. If it happens, great. If it doesn't happen, we win the World Cup, and I'll be as happy,” Kohli said on JioStar.
"It's the last time you're getting to play a World Cup. So just getting that trophy is the most important thing. If I have the opportunity to do it as an individual, staying there out in the middle, there's nothing more satisfying as a batsman. That drives us—to be the guy who makes an impact. The situation is difficult; you visualize yourself pulling the team out of trouble. And that's what makes you compete. So, I don't want to let go of that competitiveness,” Kohli added.
Kohli had an average of 58.18 in ODI matches prior to the beginning of 2025. The average is currently 58.59, and this improvement is due to his run rate of 64.68 in this period.
"What's changed is, firstly, I promised myself that I'm going to play more freely. I'm not going to worry about the expectations that people might have around me. Because my role always had been for a long period of time that he's going to stabilize things, right? What happens is I know I can play, like I know I can hit shots, but [say] you're playing on a tricky pitch, and you try to do something extravagant, and you survive. Immediately, there's a [player coming out with a drink saying], "You play, keep going." Kohli spoke about his form.
"This time, I'm making a conscious effort that if I'm set, to make a difference in the game, I'll get 30-40 extra runs. I want to be in a space where if I am choosing not to take a risk, it's because I'm setting up eventually to get to a point where I say, 'Okay, now press the accelerator down.' It's not to say, 'I'll keep going at that rate and not accelerate at any stage and then do it at the end.'
Now the game is changing in a way that, especially if the conditions are fast-paced and good and other teams are looking to press you towards 340, 350, we should be able to get 350, 360 also. I'm very willing to take risks now because I know that [we] will get 350, 360 easily. And doing that, if I play longer, then I can hit more at the end. So, I had to unlock like a little bit of that, you know, freedom in my own mind,” the ace batter stated.
Kohli has had a decorated career, with an ICC World Cup win in 2011, a T20 World Cup win in 2024, and two Champions Trophy wins in 2013 and 2025. He also captained India to the final of the 2021 World Test Championship (WTC 2021).