Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif believes Rohit Sharma has made up his mind not to retire from ODI cricket on his own and will instead leave it to the selectors to decide when his journey with the national team should end. Rohit’s future has been under intense scrutiny since India’s ODI series against England. Reports ahead of the tour claimed that the senior selection committee had informed the veteran opener he was not part of India’s plans for the 2027 ODI World Cup, with the selectors keen to invest in younger opening options, including Yashasvi Jaiswal. The speculation gathered further pace after Rohit managed a slow-paced 26 off 47 balls in the second ODI at Cardiff. Questions over his future intensified, with reports suggesting the series decider at Lord’s on July 19 could be his final ODI appearance for India. However, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia dismissed those claims before the match, stating that no decision had been taken to make the Lord’s fixture Rohit’s farewell game. While the clarification ended immediate speculation, it did not confirm whether Rohit remained part of India’s long-term plans leading up to the 2027 World Cup. The veteran opener responded in style, smashing 138 from just 110 deliveries during India’s chase of 388 at Lord’s. His innings, featuring 17 fours and five sixes, made him the first Indian batter to score an ODI century at the iconic venue, although India eventually fell 27 runs short and lost the series 2-1. Following the match, captain Shubman Gill said Rohit had not informed the team about any retirement plans, while Rohit himself insisted his only focus was on scoring runs for India. Sharing his views on the situation, Kaif said Rohit’s recent actions suggest he has no intention of stepping away voluntarily. “Yes, one thing has become clear,” Kaif said during a discussion. “Rohit Sharma is effectively saying, ‘If I am not playing well, you take the call yourselves. Drop me.’ “The fact that he has not stepped away or announced his retirement, the enthusiasm he is showing, the way he is approaching his batting and the hundred he scored at Lord’s — all of this shows that he is now focused entirely on playing. Whatever the selectors want to do after that is up to them. Perhaps earlier there was an attempt to convince him about certain things internally. The problem at the moment is that it is difficult to understand who stands where. There is a lot of confusion,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel. Kaif also questioned the lack of clarity from the team management regarding Rohit’s long-term future. While coaches have repeatedly backed the opener to play with freedom, the former India batter believes the management should clearly state whether Rohit remains part of its World Cup plans. “At times, members of the coaching staff come out and say, ‘We have given Rohit Sharma complete freedom to play his natural game.’ But nobody has yet made a clear statement saying, ‘Rohit Sharma is part of our plans for the 2027 World Cup.’ That statement also needs to come. Rohit Sharma’s form will naturally go up and down. He may have a poor series, but the management must say that it is standing behind him. “Along with giving him freedom, they should also clearly say that they support him. Since no such statement has been made, there is considerable confusion and a lot of doubt. We are sitting outside, so we do not know exactly what is happening internally. But it appears to me that Rohit Sharma has now decided that he will not walk away on his own,” he added. Kaif pointed out that Rohit has already shown in the past that he is willing to make difficult decisions for the benefit of the team. After leading India to the 2024 T20 World Cup title, Rohit retired from T20 internationals. He later opted out of the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney in January 2025 amid a prolonged lean patch before announcing his retirement from Test cricket in May that year. Referring to those decisions, Kaif said Rohit has already twice put the team’s interests ahead of his own. “Twice, he has taken the decision himself,” Kaif said. “After winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, he stepped away from the format and said that it was time to give an opportunity to the next generation. Then, during the Test series in Australia, when he was not scoring runs, he left himself out. After returning to India, he also retired from Test cricket. Those were decisions he took himself. But this time, Rohit Sharma appears to be saying, ‘You drop me. Even if it is humiliating for me, that is fine. You take the decision.’ That seems to be the situation now.” Kaif also praised BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia for publicly dismissing reports that the Lord’s ODI would be Rohit’s farewell match, saying the statement prevented unnecessary speculation from overshadowing the game. “The report that the Lord’s match could be his final ODI was also framed as a possibility. There was a question mark attached to it. But when such reports emerge, they can quickly become much bigger. The BCCI did a very good job by making a statement before the Lord’s match. That intervention became a turning point. There may still be confusion internally — perhaps even among the selectors — about whether to retain him or not. But no final decision has been announced. “Rohit Sharma should now be given complete freedom to play his game. The BCCI’s statement ensured that the entire focus at Lord’s returned to the cricket. Otherwise, every visual would have fuelled more speculation. People would have said, ‘Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are sitting together and looking very serious, so this must be Rohit’s final match.’ Those rumours would have grown further. The BCCI stopped that narrative at the right time. The BCCI secretary came forward and made a statement, and he deserves credit for that.” Kaif concluded by urging the BCCI to evaluate every recommendation independently rather than accepting every opinion from the selection committee or team management. “The BCCI must also understand that the people it hires — whether they are part of the management, the selection committee or the coaching staff — are not necessarily right on every occasion. They may all be former India players who earned great respect and did a lot for the country, but that does not mean every piece of advice they give the BCCI will always be correct.”
