"Difficult to say.."- Former India star comments on speculations around Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's ODI retirement

Since the morning of August 10, the reports have flown around the social media that the two veterans of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, are likely to take their retirement from the 50-over format in international cricket during the upcoming Australia trip if they don’t play the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26, which is a must for them to be available for the upcoming ODI World Cup in 2027.

Both of them had already hung their boots from the shortest and longest formats of the game. But it could be a huge decision in the 50-over format for an ICC event. The former Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, believes that the duo should continue playing the ODIs after their consistent performance.

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“I’m not aware of this, can’t comment on this. It’s difficult to say. Whoever does well will play. If they do well, they should continue. Kohli’s one-day record is phenomenal, even Rohit Sharma’s. Both of them are phenomenal in white-ball cricket.” Ganguly expressed during the AWL Agri Business Ltd Event.

Sourav Ganguly predicts India’s fate in Asia Cup 2025

The last action in the field for both players came during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 for the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). In the international campaign, their last international outing came during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where the unbeaten Blue Brigade defeated New Zealand to clinch the title in Dubai.

Virat is the third leading run-getter of the 50-over format with the help of 14181 runs in 290 innings at an average of 57.88 and a strike rate of more than 93.54, having scored 51 centuries and 74 half-centuries at the best score of 183 runs. Rohit has smashed a total of 11168 runs in 265 innings at an average of 48.76, scoring 32 centuries and 58 fifties.

“They are in the middle of a break. After the IPL, they played five Tests, and now they will play the Asia Cup from September 9. India is very strong, and if they are strong in red-ball cricket, they are even stronger in white-ball cricket. So, in my opinion, India are favourites, and beating them on those good Dubai wickets will be very tough.” Sourav Ganguly concluded.