The Australia tour will kick-off on October 19.
Two weeks ahead of the ODI series in Australia, former skipper Rohit Sharma was seen practising with Abhishek Nayar at the Shivaji Park maidan in Mumbai. The last time Rohit played international cricket was in March during the Champions Trophy 2025 title-winning campaign. The Australia tour will begin on October 19, featuring Rohit after he retired from Test cricket. The captaincy reins have also been passed to Shubman Gill.
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Nayar, Team India’s former batting coach, was also seen practising with Rohit. He recently spoke about Rohit’s fitness journey. The Indian opener has been working tremendously hard on his physical health as well as batting for long hours in the nets. Last week, Rohit was practising at BCCI’s CoE in Bengaluru.
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The Australia ODIs will be led by Shubman Gill and his deputy, Shreyas Iyer. The series will also mark the return of Virat Kohli, who has followed Rohit’s retirement plans in T20Is and Test cricket. The iconic duo of RoKo will take on the field together for the first time since March 2025.
During the pre-match conference ahead of the IND vs WI second Test, Gill expressed the importance of the veteran players in Australia.
“The experience that both of them have and the matches that they have won for India, there are very few players who have won so many matches for India. And the players who have such skills and qualities with this experience are very few,” he said.
It doesn’t confirm much for Rohit’s participation in the ODI World Cup in 2027, as the player would be 40 years old at that time. On the other hand, the Mumbai player has proven his determination with improved fitness levels. Putting two and two together, it is unlikely that Rohit Sharma would retire from ODI cricket after the Australia tour. He would wish to fulfil his elusive dream of grabbing the ICC trophy unless an injury or a change of heart spoils his plans.
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