It’s that time of the year when speculation is rife about the impending ODI future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, but if one goes by the decision makers in the Indian cricket board, there is no tearing hurry to take an immediate call on the two maestros.

With the Bangladesh series scheduled in August being called off, India’s next ODI assignment will be an away series from October 19-25 against Australia. Indian cricket runs on narratives and currently it is about whether Kohli and Rohit, with a cumulative 83 ODI hundreds and 25,000-plus runs, can last till the October 2027 ODI World Cup when they would be 39 and 40-year old respectively. 

“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. The immediate focus will be on sending the best team for the Asia Cup T20 tournament, hoping all players are fit and available,” a BCCI source told PTI.