Cricket

“It is not easy” - Anil Kumble on Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli’s fitness only for ODIs

Anil Kumble expresses concerns about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's ability to maintain peak fitness for ODIs now that they've retired from Tests and T20Is, calling it "not easy" to prepare for infrequent matches.

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Anil Kumble on Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli’s fitness only for ODIs

Former Indian cricketer and head coach Anil Kumble feels it will not be easy for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to maintain their fitness for One-Day Internationals. Notably, the duo retired from T20Is and Tests and would be aiming to play the ICC ODI World Cup 2027.

While Rohit and Kohli announced their T20I retirements after the T20 World Cup win in June 2024, they later announced their retirements from the longest format of the game in May 2025 ahead of the England tour.

Interestingly, Team India will next play ODIs in October in a three-match series, which could see the return of Kohli and Rohit. Kumble asserted that the duo would be eager to make their mark after falling short in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 Final in Ahmedabad.

"It's not easy to just do what they need to in terms of preparing for an ODI, which is six months down the line. It's going to be a challenge, no matter who you are and how well you have had your career over the years," Kumble said during a chat featuring Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden and Robin Uthappa at an Australian Summer of Cricket 2025-26 event.

"But they are champion players, so they know how to sort of maneuver that, and it's important to celebrate champion players as long as they play. You go into thread bare of each performance as to how they should have played or how they could have played,” he added.

"What is important is to celebrate whatever is out there with the two players. Ideally, they would like to play until the 2027 World Cup, because that's something that did not happen. We saw that 2023 (World Cup) final with Australia holding the trophy," he stated.

"The legends who are no longer playing in the other format will certainly want to make a mark, Virat and Rohit, and I'm sure a lot of people would want to watch that in Australia," he said.

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