Although Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma currently remain active in One-Day Internationals, their participation in the next ICC World Cup, which will be held in 2027, is up in the air.
In fact, Ajit Agarkar, chief selector of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) even said that the two modern-era greats are “non-committal” for that tournament at the moment.
Amidst the speculations, former Indian cricketer, Irfan Pathan (winner of the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy) has suggested that Rohit and Kohli should play domestic cricket to ensure regular game time leading up to the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Domestic cricket a must for Kohli-Rohit: Irfan Pathan
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Irfan Pathan suggested that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should turn towards domestic cricket to make up for the lack of regular game time (translated in English):
“Rohit Sharma has worked on his fitness, we’ve seen him shed six, seven, eight kilos, he’s very focused on his fitness, but when you don’t play regular cricket, there’s only one thing you need to do, Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma need to maintain game time, they need to keep playing domestic cricket,“
“They’re big players, they know what to do, but because there will be a lot of gap between ODI series, they need to maintain game-fitness, because normal fitness and game fitness are two different things. If they beat this challenge they can fulfill their dream of playing in the 2027 World Cup” he added.
They both retired from T20Is after winning the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024. They then retired from Test cricket just ahead of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series earlier this year.
Shubman Gill is the new ODI captain
It is worth noting that Rohit Sharma has also been stripped of his captaincy in ODIs, with Shubman Gill taking over. This has further sparked speculation over his availability in the long run.
That said, both him and Kohli have been included in the Indian squad for the upcoming ODI series against Australia. Whether they later turn to domestic cricket in preparation for the next major ICC event in this format, which is two years away from now, remains to be seen.
