No Farewell Plans Yet for Kohli and Rohit, Says BCCI Source

Rumours are flying about the ODI future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, but according to the key people in the Indian cricket board, there’s no hurry to make a decision on the two greats right now. Since the Bangladesh series in August has been cancelled, India’s next ODI matches will be an away tour against Australia from October 19 to 25.

Indian cricket runs on narratives, and currently it is about whether Kohli and Rohit, with a cumulative 83 ODI hundreds and 25,000-plus runs, can last till the October 2027 ODI World Cup when they would be 39 and 40-year old respectively.

"Obviously, if they (Rohit and Kohli) have something in mind, they would tell the BCCI brass like they did before the England Test tour. But from an Indian team's perspective, the next big assignment is the T20 World Cup in February and preparations before that. The immediate focus will be on sending the best team for the Asia Cup T20 tournament, hoping all players are fit and available," a BCCI source privy to the developments told PTI.

No Farewell Plans Yet for Kohli and Rohit

The BCCI doesn’t rush into decisions. They like to understand the situation and see what the public feels before deciding, especially on something sensitive like this, given how huge the fan following of these two players is.

The last tournament they played was the Champions Trophy in Dubai. In the group stage against Pakistan, Kohli scored a century to guide the team to victory, while in the final, Rohit played a classy half-century during the run chase.

However, both have not played competitive cricket since the conclusion of the Indian Premier League. Kohli, who is now a resident of London, had recently posted an Instagram story after an indoor nets session, which is an indicator that he has started training. Rohit, who was also in the UK on a break post IPL, is recently back in Mumbai and would certainly be expected to start training in a few days.

Some media reports claim that the BCCI might give the two players a farewell match in Sydney on October 25, but a board source said that, for now, no such talks have happened.

Busy Schedule May Limit Vijay Hazare Trophy Games for Senior Players

As far as playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy is concerned, the source said that the national One-Day Championship starts on December 24, 2025 and even before that, there is another three-match ODI series at home against South Africa starting 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," he added.

"Now, will the duo want to play those three A games, or possibly two, before the South Africa series is the question. Even more important is whether Ajit Agarkar and his colleagues would want that," he said.

"Overlapping the Vijay Hazare Trophy (December 24, 2025 - January 18, 2025) will be the three ODIs between India and New Zealand (January 11, 14, 18). So even if they play the Vijay Hazare Trophy, it can't be for more than two to three games," he added.

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