Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma cannot relax if they want to stay in the race for the ICC ODI World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Shastri urged Kohli to quickly regain form given the tough competition for places in India’s white-ball teams.
Virat has had a brilliant career for India in ODIs. The selectors can focus on current form and performances while deciding his place in the team. Although fitness is unlikely to be an issue, the 36-year-old is under pressure after getting out for consecutive ducks in the first two ODIs of the ongoing series in Australia.
Virat Kohli will have to regain form soon- Ravi Shastri
Virat Kohli returned to international cricket after a break of seven months. They were expected to perform well, especially against a familiar opponent like Australia. However, the batsman was out for a duck by Mitchell Starc in Perth, and in the second ODI in Adelaide, he was again out for a duck to Xavier Bartlett.
With only Sydney ODI left in the series on Saturday, Ravi Shastri said that Virat needs to regain his form. Speaking to Fox Sports after India’s innings on Thursday, Shastri said that the next ODI World Cup is still a long way off, but Kohli and Rohit Sharma cannot relax.
“He will have to find form soon,” Shastri said. “The competition for places in white-ball cricket in India is such that no one is going to relax, be it Virat or Rohit or anyone in the team.”
It’s not going to be easy – Ravi Shastri on Virat Kohli’s future
Indian cricket has entered a transitional phase in the last seven months, where no player, including Virat Kohli, is guaranteed a place in all formats. Young talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Verma and Abhishek Sharma are giving tough competition in the ODI setup.
Ravi Shastri said that Kohli will be disappointed by being out on zero consecutively. He also stressed that it is not easy to retain a place in the current team due to the tough competition.
“It’s not going to be easy; there’s competition. He missed it again today; he was a bit shaky with his footwork. It doesn’t happen often; his record in ODI cricket is amazing, so getting out for ducks twice in a row will be disappointing,” Shastri said.
Virat Kohli is facing scrutiny after getting consecutive zero outs despite an excellent ODI record.
Virat Kohli was the second-highest run-scorer for India in the ICC 2025 Champions Trophy win in March. While his dismissal for a duck in the first match was seen as a minor mistake, his dismissal for a duck in the second consecutive match surprised many and led to speculation about his future.
Kohli is jointly second in terms of most number of dismissals by an Indian batsman in international cricket. Fans will be keeping a close eye on him as he aims to avoid a third consecutive duck in the final ODI in Sydney on Saturday, October 25.
The last time he registered back-to-back ducks in top-level cricket was for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during IPL 2022. Kohli is one of the most successful ODI batsmen of all time, having scored over 14,000 runs at an average of 57.41, including a record 51 centuries.
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