Indian cricket fans will need to be patient a little longer as star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are not set to make their international comeback anytime soon. The duo, who recently retired from Test cricket after stepping away from T20Is last year, were expected to return to action during India’s white-ball tour of Bangladesh in August 2025. However, that series has now been postponed due to political tensions between the two nations.
Sri Lanka Series Scrapped, Australia Tour Now Likely Return Point
In the aftermath of the Bangladesh tour being shelved, the BCCI explored hosting a white-ball series against Sri Lanka, but those plans have now also fallen through. Sri Lanka Cricket declined to confirm such a series, resulting in another missed opportunity for the return of Rohit and Kohli.
With both the Bangladesh and Sri Lanka series off the table, the two legends are unlikely to be part of the Asia Cup 2025 as well, which is scheduled in a T20 format beginning September 9 in the UAE. This essentially means that the next realistic window for their comeback will be India’s white-ball tour of Australia in October 2025, where three ODIs and five T20Is are planned.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂-𝑺𝒓𝒊 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆-𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅. 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑶𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂,” 𝒂 𝑩𝑪𝑪𝑰 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
BCCI to Reassess ODI Plans for Rohit and Kohli
The prolonged absence of the two batting icons has led to growing speculation about their ODI future. Though both players reportedly aim to play in the 2027 ODI World Cup, selectors are focused on grooming younger talent.
During a recent RCB event, Kohli expressed his desire to lift the World Cup once more. On the other hand, Rohit is said to be concentrating on fitness, with the BCCI planning discussions to evaluate their physical and mental readiness for the next ODI cycle.
“𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏… 𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 40 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 2027 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑪𝒖𝒑. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒑 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅,” 𝒂 𝑩𝑪𝑪𝑰 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑯𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔. “𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅.”
The selectors are keen to initiate a transition phase, recognising the immense contribution of both stalwarts while also preparing for the future of Indian cricket.
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