Ace India batter Virat Kohli on Wednesday dropped a major hint at his ODI comeback ahead of the Australia series, even as reports and rumours loom large over his and Rohit Sharma’s possible ODI retirement,
which would lead them to miss the 2027 World Cup.
Kohli shared a photo from an indoor net session last week, hinting at his readiness to return to international cricket for the first time since his last appearance at the Champions Trophy.
In his Instagram story, Kohli was pictured training alongside Gujarat Titans assistant coach Naeem Amin.
“Thanks for helping out with the hit, brother. Always lovely to see you,” Kohli wrote.
A fan page later reshared the picture, suggesting the star Indian batter was gearing up for the Aussie ODIs, a post that even got a like from Kohli’s official account.
View this post on Instagram
“Kohli liked this 🥰 he isn’t going anywhere ❤️❤️,” a user commented on the post. “Virat Kohli has liked this post👀 He’s surely preparing for the upcoming series,” another user commented.
With the Bangladesh series scheduled this month being called off, India’s next ODI assignment will be an away series from October 19-25 against Australia.
However, whether Rohit and Kohli will be playing ODIs post Australia tour is a thing of conjecture.
Indian cricket runs on narratives and it is about whether Kohli and Rohit, with a cumulative 83 ODI centuries and 25,000-plus runs, can last till the October 2027 ODI World Cup when they would be 39 and 40 years old, respectively.
“If they (Rohit and Kohli) have something in mind, they would tell the BCCI brass like they did before the England Test tour. But from an Indian team’s perspective, the next big assignment is the T20 World Cup in February and preparations before that,” a BCCI source told PTI.
