According to former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra, it would have been better if Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had kept playing Test cricket after retiring from ODIs rather than the other way around. After retiring from T20Is and Tests, Rohit and Kohli are left with only ODIs. Chopra drew attention to the fact that there weren’t many ODIs played before India won the 2025 Champions Trophy.
In actuality, they have bid farewell to the incorrect format. After winning the T20 World Cup, they had departed from T20Is, but if they had stayed in Test matches and bid ODIs farewell, the tale would have been different. In a video posted to his YouTube account, Aakash Chopra claimed that India had only played six One-Day Internationals in the 12 months before to the Champions Trophy.
Before the two play for the ODI team in Australia later this year, Aakash Chopra emphasised how little they played during the season.
It is possible that you will only play six Test matches in a year, but even that is still thirty days of cricket. It’s only six days of cricket over a period of time if only six ODIs are played. Your next ODI will be more than a hundred days after your previous IPL match. You’re not even playing. “You’re not even practicing,” he continued.
This won’t make much sense: Aakash Chopra
The former cricket player who is now a broadcaster emphasised how the lengthy intervals between games can cause the players’ rhythm to be disturbed.
“A series consisting of three matches ends in seven or eight days. Three months later would be the next one. In between, you won’t play First-Class cricket, and the gaps are just enormous. It’s true that it would have been much simpler for them to stay in the flow if they had quit ODIs and kept playing Test cricket, Aakash Chopra said.
After a lengthy break, the 47-year-old believed it would be difficult for Rohit and Kohli to return and start playing right away.
“It won’t make much sense if you’ve retired from Test cricket and don’t play much ODI cricket. You would play 14 to 16 innings during the two months of intense IPL action, followed by three matches six months later and three more matches three months later. “I find it extremely challenging,” he said.
Later in the year, when they are on a white-ball tour to Australia, India will play their next ODI. Previously, Rohit and Kohli played for their respective teams in the 2025 Indian Premier League.
India
