RO-KO Wanted to play England Tour but Gambhir forced them to retire: Reports

In a significant development around the Virat Kohli retirement and Rohit Sharma retirement there are reports saying that the duo wanted to continue playing the England Tour but Gautam Gambhir forced them to retire as he wanted to promote fresh faces in the squad for the upcoming cycle of the World Test Championship starting with the England tour and he got the full support from BCCI and selector Ajit Agarkar.

“The Gautam Gambhir era begins now. He was categorical that during the next WTC cycle, India need to have fresh faces, Everyone associated with decision-making knew where Gambhir stood in terms of carrying seniors in the longest format. Obviously, his and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar’s thoughts aligned,” the source added.

It’s reported that the decision about Rohit and Kohli’s future was decided after the recent Test Series loss to Australia in the BGT 2024-25, after which the Indian team lost its chances to qualify for the WTC final. The source told Hindustan Times that Indian Head coach Gambhir wanted to end the star culture in the team and was looking to add fresh faces in the squad for the upcoming England Tour.

No Plans of Retirement: RO-KO

After the loss of BGT and their retirement talks, the duo were always seen dismissing the retirement talks with no intent of stepping down at the moment. Rohit who appeared on Michael Clarke’s podcast opened about his plans in the England series and did confirm his availability and then Kohli who seemed fit also confirmed his availability to DDCA coach said that “He is looking to hit a few more centuries in the upcoming Test Tour.”

These were the evidences that the duo wanted to play few more Test Matches and willingly shared their plans with their fans, but ultimately had to retire due to Gambhir’s vision of new faces in the squad for the upcoming WTC Cycle.