Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli may have chosen the wrong format to retire from, quitting Tests when One-Day Internationals have become less relevant.
Rohit and Kohli surprised the cricketing world in May with their sudden retirement from Test cricket ahead of India’s tour of England.
The two batting stalwarts continue to be part of the ODI team, having played a key role in India’s Champions Trophy triumph earlier this year.
However, the duo’s ODI careers is also set to be on their last legs with the BCCI looking to bring in younger players with an eye on the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Chopra observed that with not many ODIs being played, it will be tough for Kohli and Rohit to sustain their form and fitness without much practice.
‘They have quit the wrong format. They should have continued to play Test cricket and quit ODIs because anyways you are playing T20s in the IPL. I feel it was a mistake,’ Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
‘They took the correct decision to retire from T20Is after winning the T20 World Cup in 2024, that was understandable because the next World Cup was two years away in 2026 and this was the pinnacle for them. They took a sudden decision to retire from Tests and decided to continue playing in ODIs which I feel was not the right decision.’
Chopra explained that without Test cricket, Rohit and Kohli will struggle for match practice as they will not feature in the Ranji Trophy or even in English county cricket.
‘Test cricket presents different challenges in every match while white ball cricket has become monotonous with the same kind of pitches everywhere. Test cricket is the toughest format and One-Day cricket the easiest format, in terms for a batter.’
‘When you are playing Tests even if there is a big gap like after the IPL, you can play Ranji Trophy or even county cricket in England because you need to be in the groove. But when you quit Test cricket, you will not play in Ranji Trophy or county cricket because there is no point.’
He pointed out to the declining relevance of 50-overs cricket, stating how India played only six ODIs in 12 months going into the ICC Champions Trophy in March.
‘In the 12 months leading up the ICC Champions Trophy, India played only six One-Day Internationals. India could also end up playing six Tests in a year but even if there are only six Tests, you have 30 days of cricket.
‘But six ODIs means only six playing days of cricket. So how can you prepare yourself, motivate yourself, train yourself and work on your fitness, how can you inspire yourself?’
‘There will be a total of nine ODIs till the next IPL, so only nine days of cricket. There will be more than 100 days gap between your last match in the IPL and the next ODI series. So you are not playing cricket at all, you are not practicing at all because you are playing once in six months.’
‘A three-match series gets over in seven to eight days, and the next one would be held after three months. The gaps are just incredibly huge, and you won’t play first-class cricket in between,’ noted Chopra.
‘If they had continued playing Test cricket and quit ODIs, then staying in the groove would have been a lot easier. When you have retired from Tests, and ODI cricket is not played much, then it is not going to make a lot of sense.
‘Just two months of high-intensity IPL, where you would get to play 14 to 16 innings, and then you would play three matches after six months, and then three matches after another three months. I think it is very, very difficult.”
‘As a great player as you both Kohli and Rohit are — to keep yourself invested for six months in that same intensity, maintaining your fitness, your diet, your training in that same intensity for six months for a three match series, how plausible is it?’
Rohit and Kohli, whose last appearance for India came during the ICC Champions Trophy in March, are expected to be next seen in action during the ODI tour of Australia in October.
