Team Indialegends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bid adieu to Test cricket in May but their retirement is still getting discussed. Both batters were struggling to be among the runs in their final phases
of their careers. Rohit, who was captaining India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, averaged only 6.20 from his bat in the Test series played down under. Virat also looked completely out of rhythm as he amassed only 190 runs in nine innings of five contests. Following their miserable performances, both players were facing heat from their critics, and there were media reports that the legends were also feeling pressure from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shape up or ship out.
Recently, former India all-rounder Karsan Ghavri had a chat with Vijay Lalwani on the latter’s YouTube show, and he spoke about how Kohli retired from the longest form of the sport prematurely apart from not getting a proper farewell from the BCCI. "He [Kohli] should have definitely continued playing for India easily, probably for another couple of years. But something really forced him to retire. And unfortunately, when he retired, he was not even given a farewell by the BCCI. Such players, such a great player who has done such great service to the BCCI, India cricket and Indian fans, should be given a grand and fabulous farewell," said Ghavri.
Ghavri feels that internal politics in the BCCI obligated both Rohit and Kohli to retire from red-ball cricket. "It’s due to internal politics within the BCCI, which is hard to understand. And I think this is the reason he retired prematurely. Even Rohit Sharma retired prematurely. They were asked to go out. It’s not like they wanted to leave. They wanted to continue. But the selectors and BCCI had different ideas. It was a matter of some kind of petty politics," added Ghavri.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma likely to feature in Australia for three ODIs
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohliplayed their last international game on March 9, the Champions Trophy 2025 final between India and New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The two are now likely to show up for India against Australia in a three-match One Day Internationals (ODI) to be played down under from October 19 to 25.
Rohit, as a skipper, will strive to win his maiden ODI series for India in Australia. The Men In Blue won their last 50-over competition on Aussie soil in 2019, when the Virat Kohli-led side bagged a 2-1 win against the Men In Yellow led by Aaron Finch.
