Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma has reportedly made up his mind to carry on with his career up to the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, with special interest in going on playing Test cricket as well.
Sharma, according to a recent Cricbuzz report, has come up with a strategy to enhance his fitness and batting, in consultation with current men’s senior assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. The strategy will ensure that he is able to meet the high expectations of international cricket. His next decisions will largely depend on how he performs at the next IPL 2025.
Nayar, who was once a Mumbai teammate of Sharma, has a track record of working with a number of Indian cricketers, including KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik, and helping them fulfill their potential. Rohit has already attributed his successes to Nayar, calling him a specialist in extracting the best out of players in the modern game.
Rumblings of Rohit’s future in international cricket grew stronger in the run-up to the 2025 Champions Trophy. At 37, he already stated he was retiring from T20 internationals following last year’s T20 World Cup and withdrew from the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, admitting his form was poor. Not many cricketers play World Cups in their 40s, something Rohit would be in 2027.
But the narrative completely changed when India beat New Zealand in a cliff-hanger final, and Rohit was awarded the Player of the Match trophy for his mind-boggling 76 runs. This victory made him only the second Indian captain to have won two ICC titles.
In the post-match press conference, Rohit firmly stated his commitment to the format, assuring fans that he has no plans to retire. This sentiment was echoed in an informal exchange with Virat Kohli during the celebrations following India’s win. “One more thing. I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure that no rumors are spread moving forward,” he emphasized.
Later, in interviews, Rohit reflected his intention to keep all options regarding the 2027 World Cup and refrain from making ultimate decisions on his career. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting interpreted Rohit’s statement as his need to achieve more in ODIs, and hence possibly the previous World Cup defeat was encouraging him.
I think maybe the fact that they lost the last one and he was captain, that might be the thing in the back of his mind,” Ponting said in The ICC Review. “Just have one more crack at trying to win the T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and the ODI World Cup. I mean when you watch him play like he played in the Champions Trophy final, you wouldn’t say that he is finished yet.”
