Rohit Sharma's ODI retirement: BCCI breaks silence after review meeting in Mumbai

The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has given an update on Rohit Sharma’s ODI future following a long discussion during a meeting held in Mumbai to review the team’s recent performances in Ireland and England. Ever since the ODI series in England, there have been speculations around Rohit Sharma’s premature retirement in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup 2027 in Southern Africa.

Rohit slammed a magnificent century in his last ODI appearance at Lord’s, scoring 138 (110), hitting 17 fours and five sixes, albeit in a losing cause. Following the recent meeting, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia has commented on Rohit’s future, quashing his retirement rumours once again.

“Rohit Sharma is playing superbly in all matches, so what more do you want? He scored 138 in the last match, so why is there speculation? I don’t give fodder to speculations,” Saikia told the media after the meeting. 

Saikia also mentioned that the board's priority is to field the best possible team combination in the ODI World Cup 2027 in Southern Africa.

“We discussed how our team performed in England and Ireland and also what we’re going to do about the next year; the roadmap has been prepared. We will be doing some exercises, so we have a good performance in the 2027 ODI World Cup. We have chalked out our team preparation in the lead-up to a busy cricketing season. Our main intention is that we have the best team combination in next year’s World Cup," he added.

The BCCI Secretary spoke about the poor show in Ireland and England, where India lost all three series (two T20Is and one ODI) and revealed that the board has chalked out a strategy for future overseas tours.

“We didn’t do well in Ireland and England and lost all three series. We wanted to know the reasons, so we went to do some soul-searching. In future, what we’ll be doing before SENA tours, we have chalked out some strategy,” said Saikia. 

Saikia also mentioned that the board discussed about constant injuries of players and the measures they've taken to avoid them.

“We have a protocol in place for how a player can come back to international again. So, when a player is injured, he goes to his own physio or comes through the rehab program to COE. Before being a part of the Indian team, there are certain measures that they have to take and certain hurdles a player has to cross. So those kinds of things, we’ve revisited today and whatever the best way we can do to ensure players get no injury in international matches. There was no discussion on any individual player,” Saikia said.