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The limited number of ODI games in recent years has been a major reason for players to call their time in the format. The format has lost its significance in recent years, and retiring from it could help players extend their careers in tests and T20Is. While Rohit, Virat, and Jadeja have already retired from T20Is, the ODI retirements do not seem too far away.
There is no doubt about the fact that winning a bilateral ODI series has lost significance over the years. While teams still want to win test series at home and away too, ODIs have lost their importance in recent years. Players still look forward to playing T20I cricket as it acts as an audition for them to earn big bucks in franchise tournaments around the world.
Rohit, Virat, and Jadeja, along with many other players, have been the pillars of the Indian team in the past decade. There is an argument to be made that the three Indians desperately want to win an ODI trophy after coming close to winning it on multiple occasions in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2023. If they manage to win the Champions Trophy on Sunday, the motivation to win yet another trophy would be extremely hard to find.
Apart from winning a trophy, making or breaking a record could be another motivational factor for these players. Unfortunately for the batters, the records made by Virat Kohli look unbreakable for the foreseeable future. For Kohli himself, there is hardly anything left to achieve in ODI cricket. The only benefit he could gain from playing ODIs is getting closer to the mountain of 100 international centuries where Sachin Tendulkar sits alone.
For the bowlers, the limited number of matches in the format has meant that taking heaps of wickets has become next to impossible. Taking a five-wicket haul was, anyway, pretty tough even in the heyday of the ODI format. Waqar Younis holds the record for picking up the most fifers in the format with 13. Shami, with six, is the closest active bowler to Waqar and it would be next to impossible for the Indian pacer to break the record for most fifers in ODIs.
Is the next generation of players ready? This is the biggest question one could raise when discussing the retirements of players with such great stature. With the Indian team, the availability of talent has rarely been a matter of question in the past decade. Thanks to the IPL, every year, a couple of new players are unearthed. These upcoming players are not only ready but are competing with the best players for positions in the team. In T20Is, the emergence of Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma has already shown that the future of Indian batting in the shortest format is in great hands.
Apart from India, other countries, too, with their premier T20 tournaments, have started to follow suit. The competition in these tournaments might not be as fierce as the IPL but still provides a chance for the youngsters to share a dressing room with the best cricketers from around the world and learn from the great players.
Barring a few players like Virat, Jadeja, and Williamson, fitness becomes another extremely vital factor when making decisions regarding retirements. Players from across the sporting world have proved that age is just a number if you have the fitness to perform at the top level. For instance, LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo in the sports of Basketball and Football, respectively, have shown that a modern player can play at the top level even after turning 40 years old.
Most of the cricketers, including Rohit, Henry, and Shami, have had fitness issues in the past. A few controversial statements in the past week were also made by Indian politicians, raising questions over Rohit’s fitness. Henry and Shami, on the other hand, being fast bowlers, could find it extremely tough to stretch their careers till the 2027 ODI World Cup and hence, retiring from ODIs after CT 2025 could be a wise decision. It could help the two pacers to extend their careers in test cricket.
Rohit Sharma has been a great player; there is not a single doubt about it. Given his records as an opener, Rohit might rank among the best to bat at the top of the order in ODIs. He has had an illustrious career and would be among the top three ODI openers in the history of Indian cricket.
The only thing missing from his career in the format is a World Cup trophy. Having reached the semifinals in 2015 and 2019, Rohit and the Indian team came pretty close to winning the tournament in 2023 but could only be the second-best, with Australia winning their sixth title.
Even though he won the Champions Trophy in 2013 under MS Dhoni’s captaincy, Sharma would like to end his career on a high, and winning the CT 2025 trophy will be a priority for the current skipper. He could very well announce his retirement after the CT final, regardless of the result. For Rohit, the match on Sunday could be the last time he represents India at the international level.
There are no indications in his performance that suggest Virat Kohli should call his time in the One-Day format. However, given the lack of intensity in ODI bilaterals and the next major tournament in the format being two years away, Kohli would seriously consider whether he should continue playing in the format.
As a batter, the right-handed batter holds the record for scoring the most centuries and is considered by many to be the greatest batter in the history of ODIs. There is hardly anything left for Virat to achieve in the format. Unlike Rohit, he won a World Cup trophy in 2011. He also won the Champions Trophy in 2013 and would be gunning to win his second trophy on Sunday.
Kohli, from the perspective of fans from outside his circle, has always seemed to be a player searching for the drive when stepping on the cricket field. He is one of those who enjoy the intensity of the game. While his fitness and cricketing skills could allow him to play till the 2027 ODI World Cup, the right-hander batter would question whether he will be able to keep up the intensity for another 2.5 years.
Ravindra Jadeja followed Rohit and Virat when announcing his retirement from T20Is. He could do the same when it comes to ODIs after playing the final of the Champions Trophy on Sunday. The Indian all-rounder, along with the two legendary batters, has been a lynchpin of the Indian team in the format for more than a decade.
He rose to prominence in international cricket at the same tournament in 2013. Life could come full circle for Jadeja if he retires from the format after the completion of the tournament. Unlike Rohit and Virat, the all-rounder has not suffered a drastic dip in form in test cricket. It could be a massively unpopular opinion, but Jadeja could go on to play for India for a longer duration than the two legendary batters.
Mohammed Shami has had a love affair with ICC tournaments, however, he has been unlucky to not have won a single tournament with India so far. Even though he has often been the best bowler for the Men in Blue in these high-pressure tournaments, Shami has been unlucky to be on the losing side consistently.
Since his debut, the Indian team has lost every ICC tournament that Shami has played. The only tournament he skipped was the T20 World Cup in 2024, which the Rohit Sharma-led side won after defeating South Africa in the final.
The right-arm pacer has taken the most wickets in the Champions Trophy 2025 for India and would be a crucial player in the final against New Zealand. He could call his time in the format, given his recent struggles with injuries.
Kane Williamson is one of the most distinguished cricketers from New Zealand. The right-handed batter is unarguably the best player in the history of his nation. Williamson has been at the forefront of all the success the Blackcaps have enjoyed in the past decade. He played a pivotal role in 2019 when they reached the final of the World Cup. He made a lot of impact as the Kiwis won the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.
The right-hander would be 37 by the time the next ODI World Cup comes around in 2027. It would be extremely difficult for him to stretch his career till the next World Cup. However, he is one of the prolific run-scorers for the Blackcaps in white-ball cricket and would like to end his ODI career with a Champions Trophy in his hands.
Matt Henry, when he plays, still appears to be an extremely potent bowler. He is a dangerous bowler and can get prodigious swing movement with the new ball. However, injuries in recent times have halted his great career. The limited number of games in the format could mean that Henry plays his last ODI on Sunday.
Unfortunately for the right-arm pacer, he suffered a blow to his shoulder while completing a catch in the semi-final against South Africa. Even though he came on to bowl a couple of overs after suffering an injury, Henry could be a doubtful starter for the final game on Sunday.
Devon Conway, with the emergence of Rachin Ravindra and the recent rise in the form of Will Young, has fallen out of New Zealand’s plans in ODIs. He is often replaced in the playing 11 by Ravindra. Conway has also suffered a dip in his personal form as well. He has yet to score a century in ODIs since scoring one in the opening game of the World Cup in 2023. In nine innings since that unbeaten ton, Conway has managed to register a solitary half-century in the format.
In the Champions Trophy, Conway was part of the starting 11 for the Kiwis for the first two games. However, once both Rachin Ravindra and Darryl Mitchell were fit to play, the left-handed opening batter was benched. He will turn 34 in four months and will be 36 years old when the next ODI World Cup rolls out in South Africa in 2027.
Temba Bavuma has splendidly led the South African team to the semifinals in the ODI World Cup in 2023 and the Champions Trophy in 2025. However, each time, the Proteas have failed to cross that penultimate challenge. He is a month away from turning 35 years old, and with the next World Cup being two years away, one can expect Bavuma to make his retirement announcement sooner rather than later.
Even though the current skipper would try to push himself to lead his side in a home World Cup, a dip in form in recent times would mean that he might have to vacate a spot in the top of the order. In some good news for the South Africans, there has been a rise in the country's talent pool. With more players pushing the door for a spot in the playing 11, Bavuma’s time as a top-order batter could be over pretty soon.
Rassie van der Dussen is one of the oldest players in the South African team. The top-order batter was a late bloomer in the international circuit. The right-handed batter had played cricket all around the world before making his international debut for South Africa in a T20I against Zimbabwe in 2018. Given his age at the time of his debut, it was a real possibility that the right-hander would not be playing for a long time.
With the completion of the Champions Trophy 2025, it appears that it is time for van der Dussen to call it time in the format. In the last couple of years, he has suffered a dip in form as well. In the last nine ODIs, Rassie has scored 297 runs at an average of 37.5. Even though in the ongoing tournament, he registered three fifties, those have come at relatively easier pitches in Pakistan. He will be 38 years old by the time the next World Cup rolls around in South Africa.
South African team could see some of their stars from the past decade bidding farewell to ODI cricket. There isn’t a more constant figure in the Proteas lineup than David Miller. He has been at the forefront of the white-ball teams. Miller is one of the ten players to have played more than 300 matches for South Africa in international cricket.
Among active cricketers, he is the most capped player for his nation. However, the 35-year-old might have played his final ODI in the Champions Trophy. Miller scored a valiant century in the semi-final against New Zealand, but his team lost the match and was knocked out. Given that he would be nearly 38 at the time of the ODI World Cup in 2027, Miller could bow out after scoring a scintillating century in his last game.
Left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi is one of the rarest species in international cricket. Apart from him, only Kuldeep Yadav and Noor Ahmad are left-arm wrist spinners who regularly feature for their teams. However, in spite of his rarity, Shamsi seldom finds himself in the playing 11. He is overlooked, with Keshav Maharaj being preferred over him. Even in the Champions Trophy 2025, when South Africa played on some pitches where they could have gone with two spinners, Shamsi failed to make it into the 11.
Given that Maharaj is preferred over him even when there is the assistance to spinners, Shamsi would definitely find him out of the playing 11 during the World Cup in 2027. Retiring from ODIs will free up Shamsi to be available to play in T20 leagues in around the world.
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