Cricket fans wanting to see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli back on the field will have to wait a bit longer. These two big batsmen who had stepped away from Test cricket recently aren’t expected to return to international cricket as soon as some had thought.
Rohit and Virat had ended their Test careers earlier this year, almost a year after they had already retired from Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) after India’s T20 World Cup win. These decisions were made with the 2027 World Cup in South Africa in mind. Initially people thought they would return to international cricket during India’s series against Bangladesh in August but that series was postponed due to political issues between the two countries.
Vipul Kashyap from ANI reported that Sri Lanka Cricket denied rumors of a series against India in late August. Discussions about a series between India and Sri Lanka started after BCCI postponed the Bangladesh series due to Bangladesh’s strained relationship with India.
With the Sri Lanka series cancelled, India’s next big event is the Asia Cup 2025 which starts on September 9 in the UAE. It’s unlikely that either Rohit or Kohli will play in this tournament since it’s a T20 format. Their most likely return will now be during India’s tour of Australia in October where the Indian team will play 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is.
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After that they might get to play in the 6 ODIs against New Zealand and England from January to July 2026. Overall they won’t have many chances to play cricket.
According to a Cricbuzz report Rohit is working hard to get fit for the upcoming World Cup. Also Kohli said at an event for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) just before the IPL 2025 season that winning the World Cup is a big goal for him.
Besides their age, another challenge for Kohli and Rohit as they prepare for the 2027 World Cup is the lack of consistent playing time. India will play only 27 ODIs till the end of 2026 spread out among Test and T20I matches. Since both players will play only occasionally, mainly in ODIs, it will be tough for them to get into a good rhythm.
