ICC confirms Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma’s ODI retirements? Shock move stuns cricket world
Published - 20 Aug 2025, 02:30 PM | Updated - 20 Aug 2025, 03:21 PM
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On Wednesday, August 20, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the updated ICC rankings, and surprisingly, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's names were missing from the list.
The absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the ICC Men's ODI Batting Rankings has led to speculation about their retirement from 50-over cricket.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to retire? ICC's shock move stuns cricket world
Just last week, Rohit Sharma moved to the second position in the ICC Men's ODI Batting Rankings, and Virat Kohli occupied the fourth position.
However, now their names are nowhere to be found in the rankings. Babar Azam is being shown as the No. 2-ranked batter in the Shubman Gill-led charts, and Daryl Mitchell and Charith Asalanka are at third and fourth spots.
Although there are speculations that ICC has seemingly confirmed Rohit Sharma and Kohli's ODI retirements, most likely, there is a glitch in the system, which led to their removal because both players are active in One Day International Cricket. But nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing this report.
Here's the ICC Men's ODI Rankings with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli missing:
| Pos | Player | Rating |
| 1 | Shubman Gill | 784 |
| 2 | Babar Azam | 739 |
| 3 | Daryl Mitchell | 720 |
| 4 | Charith Asalanka | 719 |
| 5 | Harry Tector | 708 |
| 6 | Shreyas Iyer | 704 |
| 7 | Shai Hope | 699 |
| 8 | Ibrahim Zadran | 676 |
| 9 | Kusal Mendis | 669 |
| 10 | Travis Head | 648 |
🚨 Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been removed from ICC ODI rankings. pic.twitter.com/wQCI283kY6
— Vishal. (@SPORTYVISHAL) August 20, 2025
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Kohli and Rohit Sharma return to training
Kohli and Rohit are undoubtedly nearing the end of their international cricket careers, as both of them only play ODIs at the international level.
Both the batters retired from T20I cricket after winning the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 and from Test cricket in the same month before the England tour.
They will be next seen in action in the India tour of Australia in the three-match ODI series on October 19, 23, and 25. A few weeks back, a Dainik Jagran report claimed that the series in Australia could be Kohli and Rohit's last appearance in international cricket.
It was reported that Kohli and Rohit would retire from ODI cricket after the Australia series because of the BCCI's orders to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy. However, another report in PTI suggested that the BCCI will not issue any such directive; instead, they want the duo to play India A matches.
Kohli and Rohit seemingly shut down the reports of their early ODI retirements when they recently returned to training. Rohit was seen training alongside Abhishek Nayar, and Kohli joined the Gujarat Titans coach for some sessions.
Overall, Rohit Sharma and Kohli have played 273 and 302 ODI matches in their legendary careers and have scored 11168 and 14181 runs respectively at an amazing average of 48.76 and 57.88.
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