Will Rohit-Virat not play in the World Cup now, Sharma will be 40, Kohli 39 by 2027

Will Rohit-Virat not play in the World Cup now?; Sharma will be 40, Kohli 39 by 2027

For Indian fans, the dream of winning the Cricket World Cup still remains a dream. After 12 years, the team made it to the finals but Australia made the wait longer to win the trophy. Captain Rohit Sharma and experienced Virat Kohli tried their best but could not make the team champion.

This could also prove to be the last chance for 36-year-old Rohit and 35-year-old Virat to win the World Cup. The next World Cup will be played in 2027 and it is possible that by then Rohit and Virat will say goodbye to cricket.

Rohit will be 40, Kohli 39 by 2027
Captain Rohit Sharma, who took Team India to the World Cup final after 12 years, is currently 36 and Virat Kohli is 35 years old. The 2027 World Cup will be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. If everything goes well, the tournament will be played in the months of February and March as per the scheduled schedule. According to this, by the next World Cup, Rohit will be 39 and Kohli will be 38 years old. If the tournament takes place between September and November, then Rohit will be 40 and Kohli will be 39 years old.

Only 5 out of 180 players could play for India for 38 years
India's oldest player in the 21st century was Sachin Tendulkar, who played his last international match at the age of 40 years and 204 days. Apart from him, Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are the only two Indians among batsmen, who continued playing even after crossing the age of 38 years. Among bowlers, Ashish Nehra and Anil Kumble retired at the age of 38.

In the 21st century, 180 players played all three formats of cricket for India. But only 5 players could play cricket till the age of more than 38 years. Among these, except Nehra, the remaining 4 players played more than 400 international matches and among the batsmen, all three played more than 500 matches.

That means batsmen Rohit and Virat will have to cross the mark of at least 500 matches to play cricket till the age of 38. Virat has played 518 matches at the age of 35, while Rohit will also cross this figure in a few years. Rohit has currently played 462 international matches. According to the trends of the 21st century, it is not impossible for Rohit to play the 2027 World Cup at the age of 40, but will it really be possible?

Why is it difficult to play after 38 years?
Players have a lot of options in modern day cricket. In such a situation, it is very difficult for old and out of form players to stay in the team. Team India also had many great players like Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh. But due to fitness and form, he was dropped from the team even before crossing the age of 38.

37 year old Shikhar Dhawan is the latest example of this. He was India's top run scorer in the 2013 and 2017 Champions Trophy as well as the 2015 World Cup. But with the arrival of 24 year old Shubhman Gill, he had to vacate the opening position. Now he is not able to make a place in the team of Team India in any format. If the form does not continue then something similar can happen with Rohit and Virat.

Possible to play T20 World Cup, but not played in this format for a year
Rohit and Virat can definitely play the T-20 World Cup to be held in 2024 because till June next year, Rohit will be 37 and Virat will be 35. But both the players have not played international cricket in this format since the T20 World Cup semi-finals last year. That means Team India has started focusing on creating options for both in the shortest format of cricket.

Based on experience, both will definitely play the T20 World Cup in 2024 but it is very difficult for both of them to play the T20 World Cup till 2026. Both can also be a part of the 2025 Champions Trophy, because by then Rohit will be 38 and Virat will be 36. This ICC tournament will be played in ODI format and both the players are currently playing very well in this format.

Champions Trophy could be Rohit's last ICC tournament
The 2025 Champions Trophy will be played in June or October. There are 15 matches in this tournament of 8 teams and a team plays a maximum of 5 matches only. If Rohit remains a part of the team till then, he will be 38 years old. If the trend of retirement of players who have played more than 500 international matches continues, then Rohit will play till the age of 38. There is a high chance that he will retire after this ICC tournament.

Only if Virat can push the limit, he will be able to play till 2027.
Virat Kohli will be 36 years old in the ICC Champions Trophy tournament to be held after two years. His international matches will reach close to 600 but considering his age and fitness, the chances of retirement will be less.

However, there is a high chance that he may stop playing T-20 format. There are two reasons behind this, when he left the captaincy of T-20 format in 2021, he had said that due to there being too many matches in this format, he was not able to focus on the captaincy of ODI and Test. He can think like this even while playing. The second reason is that at that time Virat's focus will be solely on making the team win the ODI World Cup. In such a situation, it is possible that he may not play the 2026 T20 World Cup.