Gambhir Clears the Path: Rohit–Kohli Locked In for World Cup as Board Issues Fresh

Udaipur, Dec 01, 2025: The speculation about the ODI future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli—whether the ‘Ro-Ko’ pair will play in the 2027 World Cup—now seems unnecessary. If everything goes well, both stars are expected to wear the India jersey in the next World Cup. They scored runs in Australia, and their performance in Ranchi has made the picture even clearer. There is no longer any real reason to doubt their World Cup plans.

According to information from the inner circle of the Indian board, the team management has been advised not to discuss Rohit and Virat too much. They have been told to let both players manage their game and schedule as they prefer. This means the uncertainty around Rohit and Virat’s World Cup participation has almost ended.

There were talks that their future would be reviewed again during the South Africa series. But there is no guarantee that such a meeting will even take place. What looks almost certain now is that both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are likely to play in the 2027 World Cup.

Experience Matters for the World Cup

According to reliable sources in the board, nothing has been decided about coach Gautam Gambhir’s youth policy for Tests, but in ODIs, only Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are being considered. With India’s recent Test batting failures, the board believes the experience of both players will be crucial on a big stage like the World Cup. They also feel it would not be wise to take a very young team to South Africa.

On Sunday, Virat (52 ODI centuries) became the player with the most hundreds in any one format, going past Sachin Tendulkar (51 in Tests). Rohit (352 sixes) also moved to the top of the all-time six-hitting list, overtaking Shahid Afridi (351).

Fitness, Form, and Hunger Still Strong

There are no doubts about the fitness of either Rohit or Virat. Their form also remains unquestioned. People in the Indian cricket circle say that the hunger for runs and passion for cricket for both stars is still the same. Neither bats for less than an hour and a half in the nets. Before a match on the Australia tour, Rohit batted for almost two hours. Virat did the same, followed by an extra knocking session of nearly an hour. While many players bat for twenty to twenty-five minutes, Virat continued a one-and-a-half-hour session without any trouble.

After the match on Sunday, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak faced questions about the future of Rohit and Virat. Reporters asked whether the team is considering them for the 2027 World Cup. Kotak replied clearly, “I don’t know why these questions are being asked. What does this even mean? Did you see how Virat batted yesterday? He scored his 52nd ODI century and played brilliantly. So why are such questions coming up?”

Everyone knows why the question was raised, but yesterday it felt like the ‘Ro-Ko’ pair gave their answer on the field.