After the T20 World Cup win last year, Rohit Sharma had announced his retirement from the shortest format for India. His red-ball future is currently in limbo after he dropped himself from the fifth BGT Test against Australia at SCG in January 2025.
Meanwhile, Rohit addressed the inevitable question regarding his ODI future following the Champions Trophy triumph last Sunday (March 11), confirming that he is not retiring from the 50-over format. However, the 37-year-old remained non-committal about his participation in the 2027 World Cup.
“One more thing, I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure no more rumours are spread,” Rohit told reporters after a Player-of-the-Match performance in the CT 2025 final.
In an interaction with JioHotstar, Rohit also stated that he is not yet thinking about the 2027 World Cup.
"Right now, I am taking things as they come. It wouldn't be fair for me to think too far ahead. At this moment, my focus is on playing well and maintaining the right mindset. I don't want to draw any lines and say whether I will or won't play in the 2027 World Cup," Rohit said.
Speaking on the latest episode of The ICC Review, Australia legend Ricky Ponting weighed in on Rohit Sharma’s decision, saying that the Indian skipper is likely to have had a specific goal in mind when he made the announcement.
“When you start getting to that point of your career, everyone's waiting for you to retire,” Ponting said.
“And I don't know why, when you can still play as well as he's played (in the final), I think he was just trying to put those questions to bed once and for all and say, ‘no, I'm still playing well enough. I love playing in this team. I love leading this team.’
“And I think, the fact that he said that, to me, it means that he must have that goal in mind of playing in the next (50-over) World Cup (in 2027).
The Champions Trophy triumph marked Rohit's second ICC title as captain, following India's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, where they edged past South Africa in a thrilling final at Barbados.
Under his leadership, the Men in Blue reached the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup without losing a single match. However, Australia outplayed them in the title clash at Ahmedabad.
According to Ponting, a sense of unfinished business may have to do with Rohit’s decision to stay in-charge until the 2027 ODI World Cup, slated be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
“I think probably the fact that they lost the last one and he was captain, that might be the thing that's playing on the back of his mind," Ponting remarked.
“Just have one more crack at trying to win the T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and the ODI World Cup.
“I mean when you see him play like he played in the Champions Trophy final, you wouldn't say that his time is up just yet.”
