BCCI’s strong directive to Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli: ‘Board & management have conveyed to both of them that they will…’

Ever since Gautam Gambhir became the head coach of the Indian team, the management along with the BCCI have made it clear that all the centrally contracted players need to play domestic cricket when not on national duty. Reiterating the same, the Indian board once again stated the same, this time especially for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Having already retired from Tests and T20Is, both Virat and Rohit are only available for ODIs and have ample time to play domestic cricket to keep themselves match-fit. With the ODI season coming up and keeping the 2027 World Cup in mind, the two former captains will have to play domestic cricket if they want to stay in the Indian team in 50-over format.

“The board and team management have conveyed to both of them that they will have to play domestic cricket if they want to play for India. As they both have retired from two formats, they have to play domestic cricket to be match-fit,” The Indian Express quoted a BCCI source.

Stalwarts in their own rights, both Rohit and Virat returned to the ODI setup during India’s recent white-ball tour of Australia. While Rohit scored 8, 73 and 121 not out, Kohli registered back-to-back ducks before returining among runs with his 74 not out.