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Amid the retirement buzz, Rohit Sharma's and Gautam Gambhir’s images have gone viral on social media. There have been rumours that the Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, and the selectors decided to move on from Rohit Sharma, and he is not even in their ICC ODI World Cup 2027 plans.
It has also been reported that Rohit was not happy with the Indian team management and the selectors when he was told about their decisions, as he was reportedly forced to make a call on his international career during the ongoing three-match ODI series in England. Earlier, Kapil Dev pays "second innings" tribute to Rohit Sharma before Lord's ODI.
Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir share cheerful moment at Lord's
Rohit Sharma is likely to retire from international cricket after the third and final ODI between India and England at Lord’s on July 19. Amid Rohit's future and reports of differences with the team management, one moment grabbed everyone's attention.
Rohit and Gambhir were seen chatting and laughing together on the famous Lord's balcony. Both looked relaxed and in a happy mood ahead of the ODI series decider against England. The visuals hint that everything is normal between Rohit and Gambhir.
The pictures went viral on social media in no time.
Locked in, but enjoying the moment 💙#RohitSharma and #GautamGambhir share a laugh on the Lord's balcony before India take the field for the series-deciding ODI. 👏#ENGvIND 3rd ODI 👉 SUN, 19th JULY, 2:30 PM on JioHotstar pic.twitter.com/FUCQX0HxTa
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 18, 2026
Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir share a chat on the Lord's balcony ahead of the series decider! 🇮🇳🏟️#ENGvIND #ODIs #Sportskeeda pic.twitter.com/35A1UkqFPn
— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) July 18, 2026
GG & Rohit laughing out loud at Lords balcony
— Rohit Juglan (@rohitjuglan) July 18, 2026
Rohit Sharma's bond with Gautam Gambhir turns sour after backing him for India coach?
Meanwhile, a PTI report suggested that Rohit's relationship with Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar has become strained over the past few months. Interestingly, Rohit was reportedly the one who had wanted Gautam Gambhir to become India's head coach.
During the 2024 IPL season, when Kolkata Knight Riders visited the Wankhede Stadium to face Mumbai Indians, Rohit reportedly met Gambhir during an evening training session and asked him to take over as the Indian team's head coach after Rahul Dravid's tenure ended.
The reports claim that things were good between Rohit and Gambhir at that time. But after Gambhir became India's head coach, the relationship is said to have changed following India's poor performances in Test cricket.
The reports suggest that several differences affected the relationship between Rohit, Gambhir, and Agarkar and that trust between them was damaged. Since then, there have been repeated reports of differences between the senior player and the team management. Earlier, Morne Morkel dismisses Rohit Sharma's retirement rumours ahead of Lord's ODI.
Aakash Chopra picks Yashasvi Jaiswal as Rohit Sharma's perfect successor
Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra has identified Yashasvi Jaiswal as the ideal player to replace the 39-year-old if he retires from the game. Chopra said on his YouTube channel, “One cannot look beyond Jaiswal as Rohit’s replacement. There is no better candidate than him. He has scored ODI centuries against Afghanistan and South Africa and done well in the chances given to him.”
The former Indian batter continued, “If Yashasvi is scoring runs, then he has to be kept in the team. It doesn’t look like Rohit is going to retire. Headlines have changed. First, it was said that Lord’s will be his final game, and now the second headline says that the batter wants to keep playing and the team management has decided not to pick him.”
