Too early to say if Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli will play World Cup 2027: Ashish Nehra

Former India pacer Ashish Nehra feels that it will be too early to say whether Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will make the squad for the ODI World Cup 2027. Rohit and Kohli’s careers are nearing their twilight stages, but both men are moving on press to select on the ODI side.

Both men, retired from Tests and T20Is, are currently single format players and are looking to make it to the next World Cup in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Kohli and Rohit have scored 384 and 379 runs from six and nine matches respectively this year.

Rohit and Kohli were part of the Indian squad during the tour of England, where there was speculation that the former may leave after a string of poor performances.

BCCI and Rohit have since denied the rumours. Speaking to PTI, Nehra believes it is still too early to predict whether the two experienced players will remain part of India’s plans, stressing that form and performances can change the picture even shortly before the big tournament.

Nehra said 13 months is a long time and is not ruling out any possibility for the Indian duo at this point.

“We have seen, not in Indian cricket but in any sport, that even 2-3 weeks before, things change. If they are doing well, if they are performing, why not? It is not going to be easy for any coach or captain when it comes to these players.”

“We all know, we don’t need to discuss what they have done in the past. 13 months, a long time, it’s very difficult to say now that Rohit or Virat will be there. I mean age is not a number for those guys. I say no for sure.”

“Yes, we are talking about Shubman Gill, we are talking about Bumrah, but the same Gill is not in the sport of T20. The way he plays is a fast sport in multiple formats. Hard to say. It is still early for me,” Nehra said.

Rohit and Kohli will be next in action during the West Indies ODIs starting on September 27.

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Published on:

08 Sep 2026 04:00 IST