'Once A Player Has Done Well In Test...': India Selectors Told To Move On From Rohit And Kohli
With the conclusion of England Test tour, the Indian team management's focus has now shifted to the next month's Asia Cup which will be played in T20 format. While the selection meeting to pick the squad for the continental tournament will be held later this month, speculations are rife over the ODI futures of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Both Rohit and Kohli have retired from Tests and T20Is but remain available for ODIs. However, there are reports that the two could also call time on their respective one-day careers as well given that the team management would want to start grooming younger players for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Former India selector Devang Gandhi feels that the time has come to take the call to give more opportunities to the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan.
'How will you make players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Sai Sudharsan, among others, sit out when they have shown how well they can adapt? The bigger transition is from T20s to Tests. Once a player has done well in Test cricket and has the power game, ODIs should come easier to them. It is very important that the selectors and the team management sit together and take a call," Gandhi told the Times of India.
A report claims that India's upcoming white-ball tour of Australia could be the final stint at the international level for the two stalwarts. The duo has been out of action since the IPL 2025.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels that should Rohit and Kohli manage to do well in Australia, they should continue playing the format.
'I'm not aware of this (Rohit and Kohli's ODI retirements), 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," he said.
Did Kohli Announce Test Retirement Early?
Could Kohli have waited for one last stint in Test whites for India before drawing curtains on a glorious red-ball career? The questions will continue to rankle for some time to come even though his absence wasn't felt as India's next generation stepped up admirably during their recent tour of England.
While the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy ended 2-2 with India producing an epic comeback in the fifth Test at The Oval for a six-run win, former India batter and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar feels that the team needed a cricketer of Kohli's caliber for the England tour.
'If I were the Indian chief selector, I would have persuaded Virat to bid goodbye to Test cricket after playing the England series. We needed his class and experience in this series," Vengsarkar, who played 116 Tests between 1976 and 1992, told The Times of India.
Kohli had given no prior indication of him nursing the thoughts of Test retirement before sharing the announcement via social media. He retires with 9230 runs from 123 Tests.
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August 12, 2025, 11:02 IST
News cricket 'Once A Player Has Done Well In Test...': India Selectors Told To Move On From Rohit And Kohli
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