KARACHI: The third ODI of the series against England at Lord’s on Sunday could be top-order batsman Rohit Sharma’s last game, Indian media reported on Thursday.
According to a report by a leading news website, the Indian selection committee had spoken to the former captain last week along with head coach Gautam Gambhir to reveal its plans going forward.
The report added that the selectors wanted to give a chance to youngsters like Yashvi Jaiswal, and the 39-year-old was not part of its plans for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, scheduled to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year.
“The selectors have said that Rohit is not in their plans after the England tour and they will move away from him after this series,” the report quoted a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) source as saying.
“Although he wants to continue, especially after working on his fitness. The selectors have left the ball in Sharma’s court to decide his future,” it added.
The development comes amid Sharma’s poor form in ODIs, with the right-handed batsman scoring just one half-century in his previous eight games, which came against Afghanistan in Chennai last month.
Also, in the series against England, Sharma posted modest scores of 11 and 26 respectively, but overtook Pakistan legend Inzamam-ul-Haq to become the seventh leading run-scorer.
Rohit Sharma has already ruled out Tests and T20Is.
He called time on his short-form career after leading India to the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title, while he hung up his boots from the longer version of the game after the overseas Border-Gavaskar Trophy (PGT) against Australia.