Former India coach and legendary spinner Anil Kumble has said that it will not be easy for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to maintain the required fitness level in ODI cricket, especially after both of them have retired from Test and T20 Internationals. But at the same time Kumble also stressed that the achievements of these two legends should be celebrated in the remaining time of their careers.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirement from Test cricket in June 2025, 10 months after India’s T20 World Cup win. Now both these legends are only available for ODI international cricket. But there are many questions about their ODI future, and it is not clear how long they will continue to play in this format. The next big 50-over tournament is the 2027 World Cup, and both of them last played ODIs in the Champions Trophy in March 2025.
Both of them performed brilliantly in that tournament. Kohli top-scored in the semi-final against Australia, while Rohit scored 76 in the final against New Zealand to win the Player of the Match award. Still, uncertainty remains over their long-term commitment to playing ODIs.
Anil Kumble gave a big statement about Rohit and Virat’s ODI career
Anil Kumble said during an event in Mumbai on Monday,
“๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐ฉ, ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค ๐ค๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ง. ๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ค ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ช๐๐ก๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐จ, ๐๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ, ๐จ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ. ๐๐ค๐ช ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ค๐ง๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐, ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ค๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ๐๐.”
He further said,
“๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ 2027 ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ (๐ฐ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ซ๐ฐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ 2011) ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ . ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ 2023 (๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐) ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.”
Rohit Sharma has never won the ODI World Cup. In such a situation, he wants to give himself another chance, as he missed the trophy as vice-captain in 2019 and as captain in 2023.
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