Rohit Sharma sets his sights on the 2027 World Cup as India's home season opens

Rohit Sharma returns to India's one-day side in Thiruvananthapuram at 39, and says the thought that his business is finished will never cross his mind

Rohit spoke to JioStar before the first one-day international against West Indies, which begins at 2pm on Sunday at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.

It is his first international appearance since July, and the opening match of a home season India will use to assemble a squad for the 2027 World Cup, which South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia host from 4 October to 21 November next year.

One-day cricket is the only format he still plays. He retired from Tests in May 2025 and from Twenty20 internationals after the 2024 World Cup.

The business is not finished

"The thought will never cross my mind that the business I have is finished," Rohit told JioStar. "As long as you're playing, there is always something to look forward to, and I'm looking forward to the World Cup, looking at what lies ahead for me."

He drew a line between a global tournament and the bilateral cricket around it, saying an ICC event brings its own challenge because a side meets different opponents at different venues and has to prepare and think differently for them.

Virat Kohli, who returns to the side alongside him, said on Saturday that 2027 will be the last World Cup he plays for India. Rohit has put no date on his own finish.

The record he arrives with

Rohit has played 288 one-day internationals for 11,895 runs at an average of 48.95, with 34 centuries and a highest score of 264, the largest individual innings the format has seen.

He also holds the record for the most hundreds at World Cups, seven, a mark he took past Sachin Tendulkar's six during the 2023 tournament at home.

That campaign ended with defeat to Australia in the final in Ahmedabad, with Rohit captaining. Shubman Gill has since taken the one-day captaincy, and leads the side in Thiruvananthapuram.

Lord's answered the first question

His most recent innings was 138 against England at Lord's in July, made with 17 fours and five sixes. It was his 34th one-day hundred and the first by an India batter in the format at the ground.

England won that match by 27 runs and the series 2-1, so the innings settled nothing beyond his own place in the argument.

Asked afterwards about the retirement talk around him, Rohit said the noise had followed him since his debut. "What matters is what I do on the field: try and contribute to the success of the team," he said.

Nothing is settled past this series

Selection for a three-match series is not a place in a World Cup squad, and the selectors have committed to nothing beyond the current assignment. Rohit turns 40 in April 2027, six months before the tournament starts.

India's other returning senior players are Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj, with KL Rahul keeping wicket and deputising for Gill.

The squad has no Jasprit Bumrah and no Hardik Pandya, which leaves the balance of the side among the questions the three matches are meant to answer.

Three matches, three venues

The series moves to Guwahati on 30 September and finishes at New Chandigarh on 3 October, before five Twenty20 internationals follow.

Shai Hope captains West Indies and keeps wicket. His side missed automatic qualification for 2027 by finishing outside the top eight of the one-day rankings, and face the qualifying tournament early next year whatever happens in India.

For India the stakes are milder and longer, and they mostly concern who is still in the side a year from now.

The case Rohit makes for a fourth World Cup starts with three matches against West Indies, the first of them on Sunday afternoon in Kerala.

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