BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has rejected speculation suggesting that Sunday's ODI between England and India at Lord's might turn out to be Rohit Sharma's last game for the national side. His place in the squad had come under repeated scrutiny in nearly every bilateral series since the Ajit Agarkar-headed selection committee handed over the ODI captaincy to Gill in place of him back in October 2025.
There's a lot of speculation doing the rounds in the media about Rohit Sharma's future. I want to make it clear that no decision has been made about Rohit playing his final match at Lord's. Rohit remains an important part of India's ODI setup, and he'll keep representing the country for as long as he fits into the team's plans." — BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia
Speculation over Rohit's retirement picked up pace on Thursday, during the second ODI in Cardiff, where he scored 26 off 47 balls. According to Cricinfo, the selectors had already told Rohit, 39, ahead of the England ODI series that they intended to give younger openers more opportunities, with the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa in mind.
That said, India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak stated after the Cardiff loss that there was no pressure on Rohit, adding he was sure the senior batter would produce a "totally different innings" at Lord's. Rohit had already seemed out of sorts in the first ODI at Edgbaston too, where he was out for just 11 off 21 balls.
Rohit had already gone past Mohinder Amarnath to become the oldest male player to represent India in ODIs, a landmark he reached during the Dharamsala match against Afghanistan in June. Across that three-game series, he scored 16, 48 and 79. At present, ODIs are the only format in which Rohit continues to feature for India.