Veteran Indian batsman Rohit Sharma has expressed his determination to compete in the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, citing ‘unfinished business’ in One Day International (ODI) cricket as his motivation to continue playing.
In an interview with JioStar ahead of India’s upcoming three-match ODI series against the West Indies, Rohit Sharma reflected on his intentions after retiring from Test and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket. He said, “The thought will never cross my mind that the business I had is finished. As long as you’re playing, there is always something to look forward to. And I’m looking forward to the World Cup, looking at what lies ahead for me.”
He added, “When the World Cup is played, when we play an ICC tournament, it has its own unique challenge, because you face different opponents, you play at different venues. So, you have to prepare differently, think in a different way and that is the challenge.”
Rohit Sharma, who has won the ICC T20I World Cup twice with India in 2007 and 2024, has yet to be part of an ODI World Cup-winning team. He missed out on the trophy as captain in 2023 when India were defeated by Australia in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The 2027 World Cup, scheduled from October 4 to November 21 and jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, represents another opportunity for Rohit to achieve success on the global stage.
At 39 years old, Rohit has retired from Test and T20I formats but remains an active player in ODIs. He has amassed 11,895 runs in 288 ODIs, including 34 centuries and 62 half-centuries, with an average of 48 and a strike rate of 93.
He holds the record for the highest individual score in men’s ODI cricket with 264 runs against Sri Lanka in 2014, and is the only batsman to have scored three double-centuries in this format.
India will begin their preparations for the 2027 World Cup with a three-match ODI series against the West Indies. The series will start at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on September 27, with the second match in Guwahati on September 30 and the final game in New Chandigarh on October 3.
Further ahead, India are set to play five ODIs in New Zealand and three against Sri Lanka later this year, followed by a three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe early in 2027.
The Indian ODI squad for the West Indies series includes Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Naman Dhir.