Rohit Sharma's potential ODI retirement looms ahead of Ind vs Nz final

After serving Indian cricket for long not just with his tremendous batting skills but also as a leader of the pack skipper Rohit Sharma is likely to take a call on his ODI future after the conclusion of Champions Trophy irrespective of the outcomeCaptain Rohit is tipped to become the second skipper after Mahendra Singh Dhoni to win more than one ICC event as India will enter the title clash against New Zealand as overwhelming favouritesAfter the T20 World Cup final in Barbados both Rohit and Virat Kohli announced immediate retirement from the shortest format and now as the Dday looms there is speculation that this could well be the last match for Rohit in India bluesIf sources in BCCI are to be believed posttournament Rohit and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar are expected to discuss his futureIn Indian cricket it is not always the selectors who decide on future of heavyweights but the players themselves in consonance with the decision makers in the board can decide There are too many moving parts and it is not as binary as it might seemIf India wins the Champions Trophy the skipper could well announce it but it is understandable that he wanted to avoid retirement queries on the eve of the big final and hence didnt turn up for the press conferenceIn fact his deputy Shubman Gill stuck to the brief and said No discussions on retirement which suggests how sensitive the matter isAlso Rohit and Kohlis retirements cant be bracketed together It did happen after the T20 World Cup because in that format there was nothing more for them to achieve at the international levelBut if other formats are analysed Kohli is looking at 10000 Test runs already achieved by Steve Smith and Joe Root and even Kane WilliamsonHence Kohli the Test player is going nowhere and he would be needed in England considering that even someone like Gill hasnt performed in SENA land and there will be too much pressure on Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh PantBut in case of Rohit he himself volunteered to sit out of the last Test in Sydney on the Australia tour and even if he wins the Champions Trophy it doesnt ensure that he will get his red ball mojo backWill selectors continue with Rohit as captain for England Tests In case he travels to that part of the world he can look for his swansong at home during the twoTest series against West Indies Both series are part of next cycle of World Test ChampionshipHowever for that Agarkars committee and Rohit needs to be convinced that he wants to play Test series against EnglandIf he doesnt play Tests he will have only six away ODIs 3 vs Bangladesh and 3 v Australia to play till he gets a home whiteball ODI against South Africa in DecemberWhat Indias FTP calendar suggests Except Sachin Tendulkar who got a grand remembered farewell at his beloved Wankhede Stadium most of the other players in recent years havent had that privilegeAshish Nehra who had a middling career as a white ball expert did get a farewell in Delhi but that was more because the erstwhile skipper Virat Kohli wanted to give him a warm sendoffWill he or wont he is the question but an interesting aspect of Rohit continuing in ODIs is Indian teams Future Tours Programme FTP calendar with no ODI matches slotted at home till the series against South Africa in DecemberThat effectively means that after March 9 the Indian skipper will have to wait till December to play another white ball 50over game unless he decides to play in ODI away series against Bangladesh Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and then another three games in AustraliaIf Rohit doesnt see himself playing ODI World Cup in 2027 will the skipper stretch himself to play 50over format which has now become least important in bilateral series cycle Well by Sunday night we will have a clearer pictureWith PTI inputs