There has been a great controversy about the future of Virat Kohli in the ODI set up of India. There are also reports that BCCI may drop the older players such as Kohli to accommodate youth in the run-up to the 2027 World Cup. Given the cancellation of the Bangladesh series, the next ODI series on the Indian schedule is in Australia which is already scheduled to take place between the 19-25 of October.
Last Non-ODI(List A) List A Appearance of Kohli
Kohli had previously played a List A game outside ODIs 12 years ago in the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, in Indore. Batting first, India Blue scored 274 runs with Manish Pandey scoring 62 runs along with a rapid cameo by Piyush Chawla. Parvinder Awana and Rajat Bhatia bowlers grabbed four wickets each.
At 46/4, Delhi started hunt in shuddering basis. Kumar and Bhatia stabilized the innings and made a 74 -run partnership between the fifth wicket. Kumar Bangar has sent packing and 54 runs are added to the seventh- wicket partnership between Punit Bisht and Varun Sood. The lower order contributed a little but Delhi were dismissed at 224 with Bhuvneshwar Kumar dispatching 4 victims.
Kohli Domestic-Experience Background
Notable names who shared the dressing room with Kohli in that game are coach Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand, Virender Sehwag, Rajat Bhatia and Ashish Nehra. Since that time Kohli has played only international ODI and Tests and abandoned domestic one-day cricket.
It seems the stretch in non-ODI List A matches starkly juxtaposes with his otherwise lengthy international career as Kohli, alongside Rohit Sharma has scored 83 ODI centuries, and a total of more than 25,000 runs together.
The Future of Kohli and Rohit in ODI Cricket
The Indian cricket story lines have changed to how Kohli and Rohit would be able to maintain their current levels of performance up to the 2027 ODI World Cup at the age of 39 and 40 years respectively. They have the experience and skills which cannot be undermined but issues of longevity are raised.
“Obviously, if they (Rohit and Kohli) have something in mind, they would tell the BCCI brass like they did before the England Test tour. But from an Indian team’s perspective, the next big assignment is the T20 World Cup in February and preparations before that,” a BCCI source told PTI.
Balancing Experience and Youth Ahead of Major Tournaments
BCCIs seems to be more focused on the mixture of youth and experience as India plans to take part in T20 World Cup and the ODI campaign in the future. The impression Kohli and Rohit have made in the ODI set up will also rely on form, fitness and team strategy as the world cup 2027 draws nearer.
