Rohit Sharma Virat Kohli Bcci Order PtiImage Credit source: PTI
It has been several days since the Australia tour ended but there are still doubts about the future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Both the legends of Indian cricket, who have retired from Test and T20 International, are now active only in ODI cricket. Amidst speculations of their exclusion from the team and their retirement, both of them had made a comeback from the ODI series on Australia tour, but their place still does not seem to be finalised. Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has put a condition before both of them that they will get a place in Team India in future only if they play domestic cricket.
After taking part in the 3-match ODI series on Australia tour, Virat and Rohit are currently away from the field because Team India recently played a T20 series and now it will play a Test series against South Africa. But after this, the Indian team will play the ODI series against South Africa and just before that, BCCI has issued orders to both the star players to play in domestic cricket.
A report in the Indian Express has revealed that the Indian Board has asked both the former captains to participate in the domestic ODI tournament, Vijay Hazare Trophy. However this tournament will start from 24th December. In such a situation, this condition will not be applicable on the India-South Africa ODI series starting from 30th November. But Team India’s next ODI series will be against New Zealand from January 11, 2026 and both may have to fulfill this condition for selection in it. But whether both the stars will participate in this tournament or not remains to be seen.
However, the report states that Rohit has expressed his desire to play domestic cricket and has informed the Mumbai Cricket Association about his intentions. Not only Vijay Hazare Trophy, but Rohit Sharma can also be seen playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy to be held before that. This tournament will start from 26th November and will continue till 18th December. Now it is not clear at the moment whether playing in this tournament will also be made mandatory for selection in the ODI series against South Africa. As far as Virat Kohli is concerned, according to the report, the situation regarding his playing in Vijay Hazare Trophy is not clear at present.