BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has officially dismissed widespread media speculation suggesting that the upcoming ODI at Lord's between England and India will be Rohit Sharma's final international match. Addressing the rumors, Saikia stated that there have been no discussions regarding such a retirement and asserted that the veteran batter remains a regular and valued member of the Indian ODI squad. He emphasized that Rohit will continue to represent the country as long as he remains in the team's scheme of things.
The retirement rumors gained momentum during the second ODI in Cardiff on Thursday, where Rohit recorded 26 runs off 47 balls. This followed an unsettled performance in the series opener at Edgbaston, where he was dismissed for 11 runs from 21 balls. Despite these scores, India's batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak, insisted that the player is not under any undue pressure, expressing confidence that the veteran would deliver a significantly improved performance at Lord's.
Behind the scenes, selectors had previously engaged in discussions with the 39-year-old before the England series regarding a strategic shift toward younger openers, with the 2027 ODI World Cup in Africa in mind. These conversations, which also involved head coach Gautam Gambhir, reportedly began during the 2026 IPL season. Rohit's position in the team has faced consistent scrutiny since the Ajit Agarkar-led panel replaced him with Shubman Gill as India's ODI captain in October 2025, a decision that followed India's Champions Trophy title win earlier that year. Rohit had previously become the oldest male cricketer to play an ODI for his country, surpassing Mohinder Amarnath during a fixture against Afghanistan in June, where he recorded scores of 16, 48, and 79.
Rohit, who retired from T20Is following the 2024 T20 World Cup victory and from Test cricket in May 2025, has focused exclusively on the ODI format over the past year. He holds a distinguished record in the format, currently ranking as the seventh-highest run-scorer with 11,757 runs at an average of 48.58. His career milestones include the highest individual ODI score of 264, three double-centuries, and 33 centuries, five of which were achieved during the 2019 ODI World Cup.
