NAGPUR: Under the twilight sky of Birmingham in 2013, two young men revelled in the sheer joy of triumph. One, an exuberant 24-year-old, swayed to the beats of the viral sensation ‘Gangnam Style’. The other, just a year older, clung to the Champions Trophy like a child unwilling to part with his most cherished possession.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma — two names that would go on to redefine Indian cricket — stood on the cusp of greatness that day. The victory was more than just a moment of celebration; it was redemption. Indian cricket had been tainted by the scars of match-fixing in the Indian Premier League just weeks before, and this win was a cleansing fire.
Twelve years later, the same two men stand at a crossroads. Rohit, the captain with an insatiable hunger for dominance, and Kohli, the run-machine whose name in cricket’s pantheon of greats still smells of fresh ink. As India readies itself for a three-match ODI series against England — a precursor to the much-awaited Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai — the focus is sharper than ever on the two titans.
For Rohit, this series is more than just another assignment; it is a reaffirmation of his position as India’s batting bedrock. The 2023 ODI World Cup saw him revolutionize India’s approach to the format, his fearless starts propelling the team to within inches of the title.
Indian vice-captain Shubman Gill too was all praise for his skipper’s style of play. “The way Rohit bhai has been batting in the ODIs in the past year and a half, it’s been game-changing for us. Taking the momentum right through from the start and taking the game away from ball one, it makes the job of the non-striker and the batsmen coming in a bit easier and it has helped our team a lot,” Gill said.
Though he was unstoppable in white ball cricket last year, the whispers surrounding Rohit’s future have only grown louder. Speculation lingers, questions loom — does the Hitman still have bullets left in his chamber? His extended net session under the punishing Nagpur sun on Tuesday hinted at a man preparing to answer in the only way he knows — by sending the ball soaring into the stands. He looked sharp in the nets and was seen involved even when the spinners were bowling.
Numbers, too, tell the story of Rohit’s blitzkrieg. Since 2023, India’s powerplay run rate has surged to 6.5 under Rohit’s aggressive blueprint. A balls-per-boundary ratio of 5.8, an astonishing 75 sixes in the last two years — the most by any batter in ODIs — underline his role as a modern-day maverick. And yet, a six-month hiatus from the format raises questions about his rhythm, readiness, and whether time away from the 50-over grind has dulled his edge.
For Virat, the series is an opportunity to script yet another chapter in his illustrious ODI legacy. His red-ball struggles have been well-documented, but in the white-ball arena, he remains an unyielding force. With 13,906 runs to his name, he stands just 94 runs away from becoming only the third batter to breach the 14,000-run mark in ODIs. A milestone beckons, Kohli would love to etch it in Nagpur, a city where he has an average of 81.25. Kohli’s ODI prowess remains unparalleled — since 2023, he boasts the best average in the format, scoring the most centuries.
For Rohit and Virat, the three ODIs, and the Champions Trophy that follows, are a battle against perception. The echoes of Edgbaston 2013 linger, but as the two stalwarts take the field once again, they seek not nostalgia — but new beginnings.