Rohit Sharma’s future with the Indian team has been a hot topic of discussion for the past year or so. He retired from Tests and T20Is as captain of the Indian team but will continue to play ODI cricket with Shubman Gill as his skipper. With a total of 11,168 runs in 273 ODIs in his career so far, former Indian captain Rohit Sharma remains one of the all-time greats in the format and former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik feels that the 38-year-old would want to win the 2027 World Cup.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO
“I think from the moment he lost that 2023 World Cup final, his dream was to be a captain of a team that wins a World Cup — which he achieved in 2024 in the Caribbean. That fire is still burning, and he wants to win the 50-over World Cup,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
“If you look at Rohit’s stats since the 2023 World Cup — upwards of 1000 runs at an average of 48. We all know the strike-rate. Rohit the batter is extremely crucial with the 2027 World Cup coming up…yes it’s a few years away, but I have no doubt, if he puts his heart and mind to it, which he has…He is coming back from a break. I’m really looking forward to seeing Rohit Sharma, the batter.”
Sharma, who last played in an ODI in March, where the Indian team scored a four-wicket win over New Zealand to win the title in Champions Trophy in UAE, played in IPL post Champions Trophy amassing 418 runs in 15 matches. Karthik believes Sharma’s power hitting in the Powerplay is crucial for India and his selfless intent is refreshing to see.
“When he is in form, he’s absolutely poetry in motion — especially in the Powerplay, when he takes on bowlers fearlessly and sets up a solid platform for the rest of the innings. Rohit has evolved beautifully. He’s not just playing for milestones anymore — he’s setting the tone for the team. That kind of selfless intent has been refreshing to see. Even in that World Cup final, the way he batted up front showed what he brings to Indian cricket.” Karthik added.
Like Sharma, Virat Kohli too had retired from T20 format post the T20 World Cup title win in 2024 and also retired from Test cricket early this year. With the talk about Kohli’s ODI future too happening, Kathik had earlier shared how the former Indian captain has been preparing with the 2027 World Cup in his mind. “In London, he was training during this big layoff that he’s had after a long time in his life,” Karthik said. “And I also know he was practising cricket easily, two to three sessions a week. That tells you the man is serious about wanting to play this World Cup,” Karthik had said earlier this week.
