Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has shared a decisive take on the future of veteran cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, asserting that the upcoming ODI series against Australia will determine the direction of their careers. Both players, who retired from Test cricket earlier this year, have been at the center of speculation regarding their next move in international cricket.
Kohli and Rohit’s next chapter to be decided after the Australia series
Neither Kohli nor Rohit has participated in competitive cricket since their Test retirement in May, sparking debates about whether they’ll continue until the 2027 ODI World Cup. The uncertainty deepened after BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed that both players remain undecided about their future roles.
Speaking during the Kayo Sports’ Summer of Cricket launch, Shastri remarked that the upcoming series will be pivotal for the duo’s long-term plans.
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝑫𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒙. 𝑰𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
He further added that age should not be a limiting factor if passion and performance remain intact, highlighting how experience continues to play a crucial role in major tournaments.
“𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Young talent pushing India’s senior stars
India’s recent success, including a 2-2 Test draw in England and an Asia Cup 2025 triumph, has been driven by emerging stars such as Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Abhishek Sharma. Shastri praised the youthful energy within the squad, suggesting it will inspire senior players to perform at their best.
“(𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒂’𝒔) 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂 𝑪𝒖𝒑 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 — 𝑱𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒍, 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒂, 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒌 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒚𝒂, 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒎 𝑫𝒖𝒃𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒙𝒂𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍. 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆-𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.”
With India’s ODI campaign set to kick off against Australia, all eyes will be on Kohli and Rohit as they navigate what could be a defining moment in their illustrious careers.
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