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According to India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar, Indian team management will take a call on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s future after the ICC Champions Trophy.
Indian team management will take a call on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s future after ICC Champions Trophy 2025. (Picture Credit: PTI)
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have failed to fire in the last three Test series for India, two of which were played in India. In his last eight Test matches, Rohit has only managed to score 164 runs (average 10.83), and Kohli has 382 runs to his name in 10 matches played so far in the 2024-25 season (average 22.47). After a below-par show in the Test series against New Zealand and Australia, both of which India lost, there were question marks over the future of Rohit and Virat in international cricket. Many former greats, fans, and experts of the game felt that it was time for the duo to quit. But Rohit rejected the reports of his retirement on the second day of the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney.
Amid uncertainty over the future of Rohit and Kohli, India’s chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, on Saturday said that the team management will assess ‘where everyone is’ after the ICC Champions Trophy.
The 2025 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will be played from February 19 to March 9. India will play all its matches of the ICC tournament in Dubai.
During India’s Champions Trophy squad announcement press conference in Mumbai on Saturday, Agarkar was asked about the transition phase, in reply to which he said, “It’s a month away from the Champions Trophy. These guys have been exceptional performers in one-day cricket… We’ll see once the Champions Trophy is done; we’ve got a bit more time to sit and assess where everyone is. Not just one of the players but where we go forward. But at the moment, the focus is on one-day cricket and the Champions Trophy.”
If Rohit and Kohli fail to fire in the eight-team ICC event, then it will get very difficult for them to earn a place in India’s squad for the five-match Test series against England. India will travel to England for a five-match series in June after the conclusion of IPL 2025. The first Test between the two teams is scheduled to take place at Headingley in Leeds from June 20 to 24, and the next four matches will be played in Birmingham, Lord’s, Manchester, and The Oval.
