For over a decade, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been the pillars of Indian cricket, carrying the team through countless battles with their experience, leadership, and prolific run-scoring.
Their presence in multi-nation tournaments has been of huge importance, resulting in many winning campaigns over the years, and hence, had been a certainty – until recently.
In a rare and significant shift, India has fielded a squad for a multi-nation tournament without either of these two stalwarts. This marks not just the absence of two legendary players, but the beginning of a new chapter for Indian cricket as well.
Their prevalence at the international stage for so many years, and now the absence, begs an interesting question – When was the last time India played a tournament without Kohli and Rohit? Well, the answer takes us back to the late 2000s, in what was a horrifying campaign for the Men in Blue.
India had neither Kohli nor Rohit at the 2007 ODI World Cup
The ICC World Cup 2007, held in the West Indies, was the last time India entered a tournament without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Despite the presence of legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Rahul Dravid, and Saurav Ganguly, the team crashed out in the group stage itself after losing to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Since then, at least one of the two veterans has been a part of the Indian squad in major competitions.
Coincidentally, both retired from the T20 format in the West Indies in June 2024, right after lifting the ICC T20 World Cup, beating South Africa in the final.
Since the ACC Asia Cup 2025 is being played in that format, India is heading into its first tournament without them in well over a decade. Just how this campaign pans out for the Men in Blue remains to be seen.
