Rohit Sharma to ANNOUNCE ODI RETIREMENT soon? India great finally opens up on future

Rohit Sharma has sent a loud and clear message to India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar about his international future ahead of his domestic cricket return.

Recently, the BCCI announced the squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026, making it clear that a big name won’t guarantee a national spot.

After Shubman Gill's snub, Rohit Sharma makes his intent clear

Shubman Gill, who is currently India’s Test and ODI captain, was not picked in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad due to his horrible form despite being the vice-captain. Well, the Indian selectors and Gambhir are very clear that the only performance that matters for them.

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However, neither of them made any solid remark on Rohit and Virat Kohli’s future, as the duo reportedly want to play in the ICC World Cup 2027. Agarkar and Gambhir refused to give any clarity on Rohit and Kohli’s spot in India’s squad for the ICC World Cup 2027.

But their stunning form and fitness continue to put pressure on the team management. Notably, the former Indian captains are now only active in the ODIs, having retired from Test and T20I cricket. They are now also set to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 for their respective teams.

Rohit Sharma sends a strong message to Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar amid retirement buzz

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 found momentum, his journey took off like a plane in full flight.

Since then, the right-handed batter's career has stayed at a high level, and now the Indian batting icon wants to continue focusing on staying at the top for as long as possible, quashing any doubt about his retirement from the game.

Rohit was quoted as saying by PTI, “Mera bhi life kuch aise he tha; start karna bahut difficult tha (My life was also like this; it was very difficult to start). But once I took the momentum, once I sat in the plane, vo plane ne jo altitude pakda hai vo abhi tak neeche nahi aaya hai (the altitude that the plane has caught has not come down yet). I think that is what matters, and I don’t want that plane to land so quickly now. Mere ko abhi tak upar rehna hai (I want to stay up till now).”

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2023 World Cup Final loss left Rohit Sharma broken, but his bat found new fire

Surprisingly, Rohit revealed that he contemplated taking retirement from the game after India’s heartbreaking loss to Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad. He shared that it was really tough for him to accept the loss, as he had put everything into the 2023 World Cup ever since he took over India’s captaincy from Kohli in 2022.

He said, “After the 2023 World Cup final, I was completely distraught and felt like I didn't want to play this sport anymore because it had taken everything out of me and I felt I had nothing left.”

Notably, after being removed from India’s ODI captaincy, Rohit has been in stunning form, finishing the Australia tour as the leading run scorer, and in the recent home series, he smashed two fifties against South Africa. He will be next seen in action against New Zealand next month.