Kolkata: BCCI has strictly ruled out “speculations” regarding Indian opener Rohit Sharma’s retirement.
According to reports in multiple medias, Rohit Sharma is set to play his “last ODI” match at Lord’s on Sunday against England following which he will bid adieu to ODI, the only format he’s playing, before World Cup 2027. However, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia completely ruled these out.
“There are lot of speculations going on in media about Rohit Sharma’s future. I want to firmly assert that there has been no such discussion that Rohit will be playing his last match at Lord’s on Sunday”, said Devajit Saikia in a media statement to PTI.
Rohit is currently in an inconsistent form against English pacers in ongoing England series. In 2 matches he scored 11(21), 26(47). The talks regarding his omission from Indian selection plans for ICC World Cup 2027 escalated after the second ODI.
The BCCI Secretary ended such speculations and made clear that the Lord’s ODI is not Rohit’s last and he will continue to represent India in long term and very much in plans for ODI.
“Rohit is a regular member of the Indian ODI team and he’ll continue to represent the country as long as he is in the scheme of things. In other words, Lord’s ODI won’t be his last match”, Devajit concluded.
After India’s defeat to England in the second ODI in Cardiff, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said that while it is true that Rohit has not got runs in the first couple of matches, he is too good a player to be put under pressure over his future.
“See, I don’t think a big player like Rohit Sharma can have any sort of pressure. He’s too good a player to feel that. Yes, he didn’t get runs in the opening two matches, but I don’t think that makes any difference. But today, it also looked like he’d probably get a good innings going. But that’s okay,” Kotak told the media in the post-match press conference.
Several reports had claimed that head coach Gautam Gambhir and Agarkar are on the same page that Virat Kohli is an automatic choice given his form and fitness but not Rohit. It also came to light that the selection committee and Rohit were not on the same page when it came to his Test retirement. Yashasvi Jaiswal who is currently in good form is also a tough competition for Rohit is opener spot despite the fact that Rohit has been a beast in his ICC ODI World Cup career.
However, the latest statement from BCCI Secretary himself has very much clarified their plans regarding Rohit.
