‘He must have 2027 World Cup in mind’ – Firstpost

Australian legend Ricky Ponting feels Rohit Sharma is targeting the 2027 ODI World Cup after he clarified that retirement his not on his mind following the Champions Trophy 2025 triumph. While a few expected a retirement announcement from Rohit after
India defeated New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final, Rohit went on to say that he has no plans to hang his boots in ODIs.

“One more thing, I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure no more rumours are spread,”
Rohit said in the press conference after being named the Player-of-the-Match in the final.

‘Rohit has 2027 ODI World Cup in his mind’: Ponting

Ponting, who led Australia to two ODI World Cup titles and Champions Trophy, recently said on ICC Review that Rohit’s match-winning knock of 76 in the Champions Trophy 2025 final was an answer to his critics as the 37-year-old opener aims to continue till the next ODI World Cup.

“When you start getting to that point of your career, everyone’s waiting for you to retire,” Ponting said. “And I don’t know why, when you can still play as well as he’s played (in the final), I think he was just trying to put those questions to bed once and for all and say, ‘no, I’m still playing well enough. I love playing in this team. I love leading this team.’

“And I think, the fact that he said that, to me, it means that he must have that goal in mind of playing in the next (50-over) World Cup (in 2027).”

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Rohit had guided India to the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup with a 10-game winning streak in the tournament, but they lost the summit clash to Australia.

Ponting feels Rohit is driven by a desire to complete the unfinished business in the 2027 World Cup that will be hosted in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

“I think probably the fact that they lost the last one and he was captain, that might be the thing that’s playing on the back of his mind,” Ponting added.

“Just have one more crack at trying to win the T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and the ODI World Cup.

“I mean when you see him play like he played in the Champions Trophy final, you wouldn’t say that his time is up just yet.”