News that Virat Kohli (he’ll be nudging 39) and Rohit Sharma (already the other side of 40 by then) might still fancy one more 50-over World Cup has been swirling for a while. R Ashwin, never shy of a frank view, reckons there’s absolutely no cricketing reason to shut that door just yet.
“Till you have experienced cricketers like Virat and Rohit, going for an away World Cup, you should extract as much experience as you can from those,” Ashwin said, pointing out that India rarely tour southern Africa with that sort of know-how sitting in the shed.
Speaking on a video show earlier this week, the off-spinner painted the challenge as a two-way street. “In my experience of how these things pan out, it’s pretty straightforward: if the management wants both of them at the 50-over World Cup in South Africa, and if there is enough energy around it, it’s very much possible to keep them on the park and utilise their experience,” Ashwin said. “But if there is a thinking that it might steer the other way, the players will be under duress.”
He went further, using his now familiar mix of science, common sense and a little philosophy. “And forgive me, I’m no specialist, I’m no medico scientist, I can’t say this with utmost authority, [but if] there is a proper rehab programme, and there is something that’s constructed around what they want to do, and if there is good vibes from the other half, the players will manage to make it.”
Ashwin accepts that time, and the odd muscle, waits for no one. “But if there is any sediment of doubt that’s trusted upon them, the players are going to find it harder because at this age, injuries are par for the course. The body is not the same as it was when it was 35 and below; it’s not the same when you cross 32 itself. So [at] every stage you need to adapt. And with that in place, it is like a marriage, both of them bring something to the table.”
The relationship he’s talking about is wider than two senior pros. “The management and the selectors will have to want them being there, [and will] want the best interest in their minds for these players to be able to get there. And from the players’ side, when they see that from the management, they would put double the hard work than they would otherwise.”
“So I think it’s a bit of a give and take. I think good energy from both sides is very critical for both of them to make it happen to get to the 2027 50-over World Cup. And having said that, I see no reason why they mustn’t be there. They make your team definitely stronger with their presence and their experience of those conditions.”
Form isn’t a sticking point. Since the start of 2025, Kohli sits top of India’s ODI run-scoring chart with 891 runs at 68.53 – four hundreds, five fifties. Rohit’s 711 at 44.43, with two tons and four half-centuries, keeps him close enough behind. Not bad for two men supposedly easing towards retirement.
Both walked away from T20Is in 2024 and stepped aside from Test cricket last year. Far from drifting, they’ve narrowed their focus and, in Kohli’s case, found arguably sharper white-ball rhythm.
The immediate schedule gives the pair options. India have 20 more ODIs before January 2027, beginning with three against Afghanistan later this week. Kohli’s tweaked hamstring has ruled him out of that mini-series; Rohit, after his own hamstring niggle, has linked up with the squad.
If, over the next 16 months, fitness holds and that “good energy” Ashwin talked about genuinely flows, the numbers suggest the only real debate will be whether India can afford to leave either man at home – rather than whether their bodies can get them on the plane in the first place.
