India finally ended their 11-year ICC trophy drought with a T20 World Cup win in Barbados on June 29 this year. With that, Rohit Sharma also won his second T20 World Cup title as a player and first ICC title as a skipper. Rohit also became the third Indian captain after Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni to win a World Cup title. Shortly after, he announced his retirement from the shortest format for India. However, his dream of winning an ODI World Cup with India is still incomplete. Rohit’s childhood coach Dinesh Lad recently came up with good news for Rohit fans and assured that the opening batter will be playing in the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.
India had a memorable campaign in the home ODI World Cup in 2023 under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. The hosts dominated the whole tournament and won 10 consecutive matches before the final. However, the tournament didn’t end on a good note for India as Australia defeated them by six wickets in the final to lift their sixth ODI World Cup title. Despite being the best team of the tournament until the semi-final stage, India failed to win a World Cup trophy in front of their home crowd after 12 years. With this Rohit also failed to win his maiden ODI World Cup.
I promise that Rohit Sharma will play in the 2027 World Cup: Dinesh Lad
Notably, Rohit Sharma wasn’t a part of the Indian team that won the ODI World Cup on 2011 in front of their home crowd. However, he went on to play all the next three editions in 2015, 2019 and 2023, but couldn’t be a part of the World Cup winning side. He had a record-breaking tournament in 2019, scoring 648 runs in nine matches. Captaining the side in 2023, Rohit again led from the front with 597 runs in 11 matches, but he couldn’t secure India the title. The opening batter is currently 37 years of age, and there is only one question among his fans whether he will play in the 2027 ODI World Cup.
With that, Rohit Sharma’s childhood coach Dinesh Lad gave a big relief to his fans assuring the right-hander will play in the next edition of the World Cup in South Africa in 2027. “I promise that Rohit Sharma will play in the 2027 World Cup,” Dinesh was quoted as saying by Cricadium. Dinesh further said that Rohit might also announce his retirement from Test cricket after the World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2025. He said ““I’m not saying that Rohit will announce his retirement from Tests after the World Test Championship. He might, given his age.”
