Rohit, Virat spark retirement rumours as ICC removes them from ODI rankings

ICC ODI Rankings: Before the removal, Rohit was ranked second in the ODI batters' list behind Shubman Gill, while Virat Kohli was ranked fourth

In a bizarre move on Wednesday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) removed the star Indian duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the latest ODI rankings, sparking rumours of their retirement from the 50-over format. The duo last played an ODI match in February against New Zealand in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. 

 

Before the removal, Rohit was ranked second in the ODI batters’ list behind Shubman Gill, while Virat Kohli was ranked fourth. Earlier, Rohit and Virat had both announced their T20I retirement after a successful 2024 T20 World Cup campaign and their Test retirement after a dismal tour of Australia during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

ICC ODI Ranking List: Not even in top 100

 

Despite ranking in the top five of the ICC ODI rankings till Tuesday, Rohit and Virat are not even in the top 100 of the ICC ODI batters’ rankings, confirming their removal altogether from the list. In the latest update after their disappearance, Shubman Gill continues to keep his top spot intact, while Babar Azam has jumped to the second position. New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell and Sri Lanka’s Charith Asalanka are now ranked third and fourth in the list.

 

Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis and Australia’s Travis Head have found themselves back in the top 10 of the ODI batters’ rankings after two vacant spots were left behind by the Indian starlets.

 

ICC ODI batters’ rankings (Men) 

 

Position	Player	Country	Rating
1	Shubman Gill	India	784
2	Babar Azam	Pakistan	739
3	Daryl Mitchell	New Zealand	720
4	Charith Asalanka	Sri Lanka	719
5	Harry Tector	Ireland	708
6	Shreyas Iyer	India	704
7	Shai Hope	West Indies	699
8	Ibrahim Zadran	Afghanistan	676
9	Kusal Mendis	Sri Lanka	669
10	Travis Head	Australia	648
11	Rassie van der Dussen	South Africa	642
11	Keacy Carty	West Indies	642
13	KL Rahul	India	638
14	Quinton de Kock	South Africa	634
15	Ben Duckett	England	626

 

What does this mean for Virat and Rohit

After the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, both Virat and Rohit confirmed that they intend to play for India till the 2027 Cricket World Cup. However, their recent retirement from Tests sparked the rumour that they might be calling curtains on their international careers altogether by the end of 2025, and the latest ICC rankings support a similar notion.

  Notably, there has been no official retirement statement made by either of the two players or the BCCI, and neither the exact reason for their removal from ODI rankings has been provided by the ICC at the time of writing this article. This means fans will have to anticipate the situation a little longer.