Ajit Agarkar has asked for calm around Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s immediate ODI prospects, saying the pair will not be “on trial” when India meet Australia in Perth on Sunday.
“Look they [Rohit and Kohli] are part of the squad at the moment for Australia,” the chairman of selectors told the NDTV World Summit 2025 on Friday. “In two years’ time, we don’t know what the situation is going to be. So why just them two? It could be some other younger players [who might miss out on the tournament].”
The discussion cropped up after speculation about whether the two senior batters, now in their mid-to-late 30s, can stretch their careers to the 2027 World Cup. Both retired from Tests and T20Is last season, making ODIs their only international format, and Rohit has handed the 50-over captaincy to Shubman Gill.
Asked if the selectors would judge the duo series by series, Agarkar was blunt. “That would be a bit silly, isn’t it, when one averages over 50 and the other averages close to 50? You are not going to put them on trial in every game,” he said. “But 2027 is a long way away, both of them play one format […] they haven’t had a lot of cricket [in recent months]. Once they start playing, then you assess as you go forward.”
Agarkar stressed that neither weight of runs nor a quiet patch in this three-match contest would, on its own, decide their long-term fate. “They are not on trial, they’ve achieved all they had to achieve, not just winning trophies but runs [as well], so it’s not that if both of them don’t get runs in this series that will be the reason they won’t be there, or if they get three hundreds, [that will be] the reason they play 2027,” he said. “It’s still a long way away, we’ll see how the team shapes up, but we have some ideas, and as we go along we’ll probably have a better idea of where the team is progressing.”
Those remarks echo what former India opener Aakash Chopra suggested earlier in the week: the conversation around the 2027 World Cup “doesn’t need a verdict now; performance trends over multiple series will tell us enough”.
Retirements and the WTC cycle
Rohit and Kohli walked away from T20Is after lifting the 2024 T20 World Cup and bid farewell to Test cricket following the 2024-25 trip to Australia. The timing meant they missed India’s tour of England, which marked the start of a new World Test Championship cycle. India, led by the 26-year-old Gill in that series, fought to a 2-2 draw.
“Both [Rohit and Kohli] have been stalwarts of Indian cricket. They felt it was a new WTC cycle, and whatever people might think or not think, that is the reality,” Agarkar explained. “Both were very aware, perhaps they may not have gone [on] for those two years as Test players for the WTC cycle.”
The selectors, Agarkar admitted, “would have loved some experience” on that England tour, but he respected the decision of two men with more than 200 Tests between them. The youthful side still managed a share of the spoils, providing evidence, he said, that “the pipeline is healthy”.
Balancing experience and renewal
India’s immediate challenge is beating Australia in conditions that have historically exposed visiting top orders. For all the talk of succession planning, the selectors believe Rohit’s pull shot and Kohli’s cover-drive are still bankable assets.
Empty weeks between bilateral ODI series do, however, raise legitimate concerns about match fitness. Domestic 50-over cricket offers limited high-intensity preparation, and franchise schedules rarely align neatly with ODI needs. Agarkar conceded the gap but argued that demands are similar for every senior player: “Work on your game, manage the body, turn up ready.”
What next?
If they stay fit, Rohit and Kohli are expected to feature in next spring’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan—far closer on the horizon than a World Cup two years further down the line. Performances there will naturally feed into longer-term planning, but for now the message from the selection table is straightforward: enjoy the cricket, judge with perspective.
Australia, buoyed by a recent series win in South Africa, will test that stance soon enough.
