Rohit Sharma breaks silence on ODI future after Test retirement: 'The day I feel...'

Despite retiring from T20Is and Tests, Rohit Sharma has decided to continue playing ODIs. How long will he play for India? He explains. read more

Rohit Sharma had scored a match-winning 76 in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy against New Zealand in Dubai, his most recent ODI innings. Reuters

With Rohit Sharma now retired from T20Is and Tests, the speculations are rife as to how long he will continue to play in ODIs. A few expected Rohit to retire from the 50-over format after India won the Champions Trophy 2025 in March, but that didn’t happen.

It’s felt that Rohit and even Virat Kohli, who recently retired from Tests , are both aiming to play in the 2027 ODI World Cup. The Indian cricket team lost in the 2023 ODI World Cup final under Rohit’s captaincy and it has been reported that the ‘Hitman’ wants to bow out of the format on a high.

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Rohit Sharma clears air on ODI future

With media reports full of rumours, Rohit has dropped a big hint on how long he plans to play for Indian in ODIs in an interview with senior journalist Vimal Kumar.

“I used to play the way I used to, I took my time. Earlier, I would play 30 balls in the first 10 overs and be at just 10 runs. But if I play 20 balls now, why can’t I score 30, 35, or even 40 runs? And on the days when I get going, hitting the accelerator, scoring 80 runs in the first 10 overs isn’t bad at all. That’s how I think now,” Rohit said.

“I’ve done it; I’ve scored the runs I was meant to. Now, I want to play cricket in a different way. I’m not taking any of this for granted. Don’t assume that things will just keep going the same way, that I’ll keep scoring 20 or 30 runs and just continue playing. The day I feel like I’m not able to do what I want to do on the field, I’ll stop playing. That’s for sure. But right now, I know that what I’m doing is still helping the team,” he added.

Meanwhile, legendary Sunil Gavaskar has said that he doesn’t feel Rohit and Kohli will be playing in the 2027 ODI World Cup . Both cricketers are already in their late 30s.

“No, I don’t think they will be playing. I am being very honest. But, who knows, in the next year or so, if they strike a rich vein of form, and if they keep scoring hundreds and hundreds, even God can’t drop them,” Gavaskar told India Today.

Rohit has had a stellar ODI career so far, scoring 11,168 runs in 273 matches at an average of 48.76.

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