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Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirement from T20Is after India’s T20 World Cup triumph in 2024. The duo also called off their respective Test careers just days before the Indian squad for the England tour was announced. However, Kohli and Rohit are still part of the ODI side, and have expressed their desire to win the World Cup which is scheduled to be in 2027. But many experts and former players wonder whether they will have that form and fitness that is required for a player to play the World Cup.
Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh in his statement, has claimed that it will be difficult for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to play the World Cup 2027 after the duo’s retirement from the other formats. Harbhajan said on this YouTube Channel, “It's been a very long time, and they are not playing any other formats. It becomes very difficult for anyone, no matter how much commitment you have, if you do not play the game continuously, somewhere the game moves ahead and you are left behind.” He went ahead and cited MS Dhoni’s case saying, “We have seen MS Dhoni playing in the IPL. Look at his performance in the last three years. You see the difference between this Dhoni and the Dhoni from six years ago when he was playing for India consistently.”
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were last seen playing for India in Champion Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had a dream run at the World Cup 2023, both of them were second highest (597 runs) and highest (765 runs) run scorers respectively. The last ICC event that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma played together was the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, in which India won the title defeating New Zealand in the final.
In many reports, Kohli and Rohit have expressed their desires to play the World Cup in 2027 as Rohit is eyeing to win the World Cup for the first time in his career while Virat lifted the prize in 2011 under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. World Cup 2027 will be played in October-November 2027, it will jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
