BCCI Vice-President Rajiv Shukla Makes Big Statement on Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma Test Retirement

Rajiv Shukla clears air on Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma's retirement 

With both players retiring from Test cricket, rumours are floating around that the BCCI made them do it to make way for some younger players and revamp the Test squad.

However, most recently, the BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla has cleared “once and for all” that it was Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s personal decision to retire from the format.

Shukla recently spoke with news agency ANI and revealed that BCCI has a policy that they don't ask any player to retire and which format to retire.

“I want to make it very clear once and for all, we are all feeling the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The decision to retire was made by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on their own. It is the policy of the BCCI that we never tell any player to retire. It was their call,” Rajiv Shukla stated in his interview.

However, amid all the sorrow news surrounding the duo, the good news is that both players are available for the ODI format, the only format they have not retired from, as revealed by Shukla himself, “The good thing is they are available in ODIs.”

The BCCI postponed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's international return

Other than their Test cricket retirement earlier this year after the IPL, both players also announced their retirement from T20I cricket last year in 2024 after lifting the T20 World Cup Trophy in the West Indies.

As a result, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are now restricted to playing only in the ODI format for the national team. Meanwhile, the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final match vs New Zealand was the last time these two batters were seen donning the Indian jersey. 

Both players were set to feature in India’s white ball series vs Bangladesh that included an ODI series. However, their return in the Indian jersey has been delayed by the BCCI.

The BCCI and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) decided to postpone the series, scheduled in mid-August 2025, to September 2026, a year later, due to the geopolitical tensions in the region. 

This has led to a delay in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s return to the Indian team for the first time after winning the Champions Trophy in Dubai. However, the BCCI is also working to make sure these two legends hit the ground running as soon as possible.

BCCI Plans White Ball Series Against Sri Lanka in August

Meanwhile, after the Bangladesh series has been postponed by a year, the BCCI is now in a hurry to fill a huge month-long gap in August.

The Indian cricket team is currently playing a 5 match Test series vs England. The series began on June 20 and will continue until August 4. But after that, Team India doesn't have any matches in August and won't play until the 2nd week of September, that's when the Asia Cup 2025 is likely to be played.

In this scenario, the BCCI has approached Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for a potential tour of Sri Lanka that will involve multiple white ball matches, T20Is, and ODIs, as per multiple reports.

Just like Team India, even Sri Lanka has a big window available to play the series vs India. Sri Lanka’s series vs Bangladesh concludes on July 16, and after that, they won't play any cricket until August, last week vs Zimbabwe.

This big gap for Sri Lanka has been caused by the decision to postpone the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2025 season, which was scheduled to be played during this period. This has also allowed SLC to negotiate with BCCI for a potential home series vs India.

There is no official announcement yet from either side on this series. Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would have a great chance to rejoin the Indian team after almost six months away if the team were to play Sri Lanka in the T20I and ODI series in mid-August.

If the series does not happen or the duo is not picked for the series, then the duo’s return to the Indian team would be further delayed as Team India won't play an ODI series until October-November, when the team will be visiting Australia for 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is.