Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma to announce retirement soon? Ex-India player drops bombshell

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are two stalwarts of Indian cricket. Both the players are highly skilled and have served Indian cricket for more than a decade now. But both of them are in their high thirties now and the talks regarding their retirement have already begun.

Recently, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif was asked if both the players are past their prime now after their low scores against Bangladesh in the Chennai Test. Kaif clearly denied it by saying that both are good enough to play for some more years.

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Mohammad Kaif speaks on the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

During an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com, Kaif was asked whether India should start looking at the successors for Kohli and Rohit . The former India batter reckoned that Rohit is doing great as a captain right now and is fresh from winning the T20 World Cup 2024.

"They (Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma) will play on for some time. They have retired from T20Is, but Rohit is doing a good job as captain, just won the T20 World Cup. And Virat believes that Test cricket is the 'toughest format' of the three formats that we play and he would love to excel in it." Kaif said.

Rohit Sharma led India to the T20 World Cup 2024 title in the month of June. Rohit was India's highest run-getter of the tournament and the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament overall.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli had a disappointing tournament but scored a match-winning 76 off 59 balls in the final against South Africa to take India to a historic win. Kohli was also adjudged Player of the Match in the final.

Both the players announced their retirements from T20Is after the T20 World Cup final and are aiming to focus more on Tests and ODIs.

Kaif further stated that Virat Kohli is fit enough and can play for some more years. According to Kaif, the future of Kohli and Rohit will depend on their fitness and form.

"He (Virat Kohli) is supremely fit, so there's no worry, no hurry. As long as they (Virat and Rohit) maintain their fitness and form, there's no reason to think about it," he added.

Recent forms of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

Currently, Kohli and Rohit Sharma are playing the two-match Test series against Bangladesh. In the first Test at Chennai, both of them registered low scores. Rohit scored 6 and 5 across both innings while Kohli registered scores of 6 and 17.

Both the players will be key for India in the upcoming Test season which is important given the World Test Championship (WTC) final in mind. After the series against Bangladesh, India will play a three-match Test series against New Zealand at home.

But the main focus will be on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year when Australia will host India for five Tests. India will hope Kohli and Sharma to be in top form ahead of the Australia tour.