The Australia series would mark the first international appearance of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli since the Champions Trophy 2025.
After being appointed as the ODI skipper of India, Shubman Gill has addressed the biggest concern of the fans before kicking off the preparations for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027. The Men in Blue will commence their road to the next ODI World Cup with the upcoming tour of Australia.
Details of India tour of Australia 2025
Following the shocking Test retirements of two of the stalwarts of Indian cricket, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, fans were eagerly waiting to see the stars back in action against Australia. As the former captains had also called their time in T20Is after India’s victorious campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, they were expecting Rohit and Kohli to finish their careers on a high, by fulfilling the unaccomplished feat of the 50-over World Cup at home in 2023.
But after the sudden handover of the ODI captaincy from skipper Rohit to Gill, who had also succeeded him in the red-ball format, many doubted whether the veteran pair would be considered for the next edition of the ICC event.
The question of their selection arose as the players currently feature in only one format of the game, and at the time of the World Cup 2027, Rohit and Virat would be nearly 40 and 38, respectively. However, the recently appointed ODI captain Gill has brushed off the speculations to confirm that the star duo is currently well in contention to make it to the World Cup squad.
“The experience that they have and the matches they have won for India is really valuable. Very few players provide this skill and experience. They are definitely in the mix,” he stated in the press conference before the IND vs WI 2nd Test in Delhi.
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Notably, the series opener against Australia in Perth on October 19 would mark the first international appearance of Rohit and Virat since featuring in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in March. Both had played a crucial role in India’s consecutive title-winning campaign by maintaining an unbeaten streak, following the T20 silverware from 2024.
The skipper had scored 180 runs with a strike rate of 100, while Kohli became the second-highest run-scorer of India after Shreyas Iyer, with 218 runs in five matches, including an unbeaten century against the arch-rivals Pakistan. Fans would hope for a brilliant return for the pair as both of them hold a brilliant record in the format on Australian soil.
In 30 matches, the opener has notched up 1,328 runs, which includes five tons, four half-centuries and a highest tally of 171*. On the other hand, the chase-master has also put up 1,329 runs in 29 fixtures, including five hundreds, six fifty-plus scores and a highest score of 133 not out.
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