Virat Kohli says he is happy to chase a place at the 2027 ODI World Cup, yet he is equally ready to walk away if he senses a set-up where he must “prove my worth and value”.
The 37-year-old, now retired from Tests and T20Is, told Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s podcast that he will only stay in environments that trust him. “We’re in mid-2026,” he said. “I’ve been asked so many times, ‘Do you want to play ’27?’ Why would I leave my home, get my stuff over, and be like, ‘I don’t know what I want.’ Of course, if I’m playing, I want to play cricket, I want to carry on. Playing a World Cup for India is amazing.”
Form is not the issue. Since last October he has scored three hundreds and three fifties in seven ODIs, against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, and he tuned up in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 131 and 77. In this year’s IPL he sits third on the run chart – 484 from 12 innings, strike-rate 165.75, a century and three half-centuries.
Yet numbers alone do not drive him. “I’m not going out there to prove anything to anyone. I’m going to play because I love playing the game,” Kohli said. “Today, my perspective is very clear. If I can add value to the environment that I’m a part of and the environment feels like I can add value, I’ll be seen. If I’m made to feel like I need to prove my worth and my value, I’m not in that space.”
He painted a picture of total commitment: “You want me to run from boundary to boundary for 40 overs in an ODI game, I will do that without a complaint. I prepare for the fact that I will field 50 overs every ball like it’s the last ball I’m going to play in my career, and I will bat that way and I will run between the wickets that way.”
Kohli also issued a gentle warning to selectors and back-room staff. “The moment I feel like people are trying to complicate it for me and be like, oh, but this and that, either be clear and honest upfront or be quiet and let me play.”
Outside voices back his stance. Ambati Rayudu, on a television panel, called the innings against Australia “Kohli playing well above par in every condition”. Mitchell McClenaghan, sitting alongside, nodded in agreement and said India “still feed off his intensity”.
The selectors’ dilemma is straightforward: judge Kohli on the cricket he offers now, not the calendar on his birth certificate. At 37, fitness indicators remain elite – his sprint numbers during the last Yo-Yo test were reportedly top-five in the squad – and his white-ball technique has evolved, with a higher back-lift allowing him to access the leg side powerfully in the slog overs.
Still, India have earmarked youngsters such as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma for middle-order roles, and there is only so much room in a 15-man World Cup party. Balancing experience with renewal is the classic conundrum; Kohli, unsurprisingly, prefers actions to philosophies.
“I put my head down. I work hard… I play the game in the right way,” he said. “After operating like this, if I have to be in a place where I have to prove my worth and value, that place is not meant to be for me.”
Cricket, he insists, is still fun. When he turned out for Karnataka in the domestic 50-over competition, no crowds or cameras, the buzz returned firmly. “Firstly, I thought I’ve played for so long and will it be motivating…” he began, before shrugging off the doubt. The runs came, the smile followed, and the equation for 2027 remains crystal clear in his head: selection based on trust, not trial.
