Ro-Ko has a ring to it: Virat Kohli gives his verdict on the viral nickname

There was a time when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were simply two of the biggest names in Indian cricket. Then came the nicknames. Virushka was already a thing. MahiRat followed. And somewhere along the way, as Kohli and Rohit spent years batting, leading and winning together for India, another stuck: Ro-Ko.

Kohli, for one, has no complaints.

“Ro-Ko has a nice ring to it,” he told JioStar beforehand India’s three-match ODI series against West Indies.

“It sounds nice, it sounds good, and people are having a lot of fun with it.”

There is now more to the nickname than just a catchy combination of two names. With both Rohit and Kohli retiring from T20Is after India’s 2024 T20 World Cup triumph and then taking advantage of their Test careers in 2025, ODI cricket is the only international format they continue to play.

This inevitably made their partnership different. The two veterans are no longer regulars in the three formats. Every ODI appearance comes with a little more attention, a little more nostalgia and more and more talk about how long they can continue.

Kohli understands the appeal.

“Now that we’re only playing one format, and from a broadcaster’s point of view, I’m sure it’s a very nice slogan to use – ‘Oh, Ro-Ko aa gay! They’re back’,” he said.

“ok hello (It’s pretty), it has a ring to it, and it’s beneficial to everyone, so it’s cool.”

The tracking around the pair has hardly disappeared. After the Champions Trophy 2025, there were questions whether Rohit and Kohli would remain a part India’s plans for the 2027 ODI World Cup. However, both continued their case with the bat.

Kohli made a significant return to the ODI set-up in 2026 and briefly returned to the top of the ICC ODI batting rankings. He hasn’t looked back since then, scoring 3 hundreds in his last 10 ODI innings. Meanwhile, Rohit made a spectacular 138 against England at Lord’s in July to become the first Indian men’s batsman to score an ODI century at the iconic ground. The two also shared a 113-run partnership in that game.

But for Kohli, the equation with Rohit was never about personal numbers or individual milestones. It was about finding ways to take the Indian team forward.

“When you’ve been playing for so long and you’re in leadership positions, for India, the aim is always to bounce things off with your captain as a senior player,” Kohli said.

This understanding has evolved over the years. When Kohli was the captain, he leaned on Rohit. When Rohit took over, he did the same to Kohli. MS Dhoni also remained a part of these talks as he stepped down as captain.

“And similarly for Rohit, when he became captain, he bounced ideas with me as well,” Kohli said. “So the conversations have always been about how to take the Indian team forward. Because the end goal at the end of the day is, how does the team benefit?”

As the 2027 World Cup approaches, these talks may become more detailed.

“When the World Cup comes up, then you also try to tighten things up a lot more and make the little things more efficient,” Kohli said. “You go into more intense, more detailed conversations about how we can get a certain right, fix it immediately and use it in the next game. So those conversations have always been between me and him.”

I DON’T CONSIDER MYSELF A GOAT: VIRAT

Virat Kohli approaches major milestone in ODI cricket (Photo Reuters)

A personal milestone also awaits Kohli in Thiruvananthapuram. He needs 59 runs against the West Indies to become only the second batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to amass 15,000 ODI runs. Kohli currently has 14,941 runs from 314 matches with 54 centuries, while Tendulkar finished with 18,426.

Yet, despite his growing numbers, Kohli is reluctant to place himself at the very top of the game’s pantheon.

“I don’t consider myself the best ever,” he said.

His reasoning was simple. Cricket has been played at different times, by players of different circumstances and on different scales of greatness.

“There have been different players in different eras of the sport and they have done amazing things, but they may not have accumulated such numbers and some have numbers that are much better than mine,” Kohli said.

For him, impact was always a more meaningful measure.

“Everybody’s main goal is ultimately to create enough impact,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to play for so long and of course if you’re motivated to do well in that period you end up playing more often than not.”

“As long as that answer is yes and you combine the experience, your fitness, the awareness of the game and the motivation together,” Kohli said, “I’m blessed that it’s still there and I continue to look forward to playing for the country, which is a great honour.”

The 2027 FIFA World Cup will be Kohli’s fifth and, he has now confirmed, his last in India. Rohit, meanwhile, remains part of the ODI plans for a century at Lord’s and has been picked for the West Indies series starting on Sunday.

So maybe Ro-Ko is more than just a catchy broadcast line after all. It stands for a partnership that has endured through captaincy changes, World Cups, triumphs, disappointments and the end of two international careers. And with the 2027 FIFA World Cup now on the horizon, there are a few more chapters left for Ro-Ko to write.

– The end