India batting star Virat Kohli, on Thursday, shared a cryptic social media post just hours after the Shubman Gill-led ODI team landed in Perth for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia, potentially putting retirement rumours to rest once and for all.
Kohli has been named in the 50-over squad, with the series set to begin on October 19 at the Optus Stadium. India will play three ODIs before moving on to the five-match T20I contest.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Kohli shared a coded message emphasising resilience and mindset, stating that failure isn’t the setback itself, but the moment you quit trying. His post implied that success comes from persistence and that he is not ready to hang up his boots yet.
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His tweet “The only time you truly fail, is when you decide to give up.”
It was Kohli’s first non-brand related tweet since he wished Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a happy birthday on September 17. In fact, Kohli has stayed away from social media over the last few , and was last active during India’s tour of England, where he complemented the Gill-led Test side during their performance in Birmingham and at the Oval.
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The social media post came amid swirling rumours around his future in international cricket. The 36-year-old had retired from T20Is in June last year, after India won the T20 World Cup in Barbados, and then shockingly exited from Test cricket earlier this month, just two weeks before the announcement of the squad for the tour of England.
Following the conclusion of the Test series, Indian cricket was embroiled in speculation over the future of Kohli and Rohit Sharma, both of whom remain active only in the ODI format. While both were picked for the ODI series against Australia, which was expected to put an end to all the chatter, Rohit was removed from captaincy, while chief selector Ajit Agarkar did not commit to their presence in the scheme of things for the ODI World Cup in 2027 yet, and neither did head coach Gautam Gambhir. Given their age and the limited game time they are likely to get in the 50-over format, the team management isn’t ready to make a big commitment yet. They prefer to be realistic and take it one series at a time before reaching a decision.
As the statements further fueled the retirement talks, BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla quashed the rumours that the Australia series would be their final appearance in international cricket. This implies that, besides the upcoming three-match contest, they will also have a home series against South Africa, starting on November 30, and another against New Zealand in January to prove their mettle.
In between, the two senior batters are also reportedly expected to play in at least three matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy which will begin on December 24.
The Indian team left for Perth in two batches. Kohli, Rohit, Gill, Shreyas Iyer and others were part of the first batch that left from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday morning, while the evening batch comprised fielding coach T Dilip, bowling coach Morne Morkel, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, spinner Kuldeep Yadav, all-rounder Axar Patel, and pacer Mohammed Siraj.
The visitors will likely take Thursday off, following the long flight to Australia, before potentially resuming their training for the ODI series from Friday onwards.