Rohit Sharma has sent a clear and unambiguous message to India head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar about his international future ahead of his return to domestic cricket.
Recently, BCCI announced the squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026, making it clear that a big name will not guarantee a national spot.
After Shubman Gill’s rejection, Rohit Sharma made his intentions clear
Shubman Gill, who is currently India’s Test and ODI captain, was not selected in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad due to his terrible form despite being the vice-captain. Well, the Indian selectors and Gambhir are clear that for them only performance matters.
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However, none of them made any concrete comments on the future of Rohit and Virat Kohli as both of them reportedly want to play in the ICC World Cup 2027. Agarkar and Gambhir refused to give any clarity on the place of Rohit and Kohli in India’s squad for the ICC World Cup 2027.
But his excellent form and fitness is putting pressure on the team management. Notably, the former Indian captain is now active only in ODIs after retiring from Test and T20I cricket. They are also now ready to play for their respective teams in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26.
Amidst the talk of retirement, Rohit Sharma sent a strong message to Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma attended an event in Gurugram on Sunday (December 21), where he was asked about his future in international cricket. He recalled that his career started with a lot of struggles, but once he gained momentum, his journey took off like a plane taking off.
Since then, the right-handed batsman’s career has remained on a high, and now the Indian batting icon wants to focus on remaining at the top for as long as possible, putting an end to any doubts about his retirement from the game.
Rohit was quoted by PTI as saying, “Mere bhi life kuch sakta tha (My life was also like this; it was very difficult to start). But once I picked up the pace, once I sat in the plane, the height that the plane has gained has not yet come down. I think that’s what matters, and I don’t want that plane to land. So soon, I still have to stay up.”
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2023 World Cup final defeat breaks Rohit Sharma, but his bat finds new fire
Surprisingly, Rohit revealed that he had considered retiring from the game after India’s heart-breaking defeat to Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad. He shared that it was really difficult for him to accept the defeat, as he had given everything for the 2023 World Cup since taking over the India captaincy from Kohli in 2022.
“After the 2023 World Cup final, I was completely distraught and I felt like I didn’t want to play this game anymore because it had taken everything away from me and I felt like I had nothing left,” he said.
Notably, after being removed from India’s ODI captaincy, Rohit has been in great form, finishing the Australia tour as the leading run scorer, and in the recent home series, he scored two fifties against South Africa. He will be seen in action against New Zealand next month.
