The white-ball tour of Australia later this month will mark the return of India stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to international cricket.
The two legends of the game last represented their national team in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where they powered the Men in Blue to the title after 12 years.
Following the Champions Trophy, the pair participated in IPL 2025 and Kohli even won the title for the first time in his career. However, following the IPL, both Rohit and Kohli announced their retirements from the Test format amid much surprise and speculation. The announcements came just a month before India's red-ball tour of England.
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Both stars had retired from T20Is as well after the 2024 T20 World Cup win, leaving ODI as the only format in which both are active. With India returning to ODI action in the tour down under, starting October 19, Sharma and Kohli will hog the limelight.
But concerns have been raised over the veteran stars' fitness, since they haven't played competitive cricket in the last five months. There was news of Rohit undergoing rigorous training at BCCI's Centre for Excellence but there hasn't been much news about Kohli's preparations for this tour.
READ: 'Rohit Sharma is hungry and fit' - Sanjay Bangar
Ex-India wicket-keeper makes bold prediction about Virat Kohli ahead of ODI tour
Amid concern over Kohli and Rohit's fitness ahead of the Australia tour, former India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel has made a bold claim about the RCB legend.
Speaking on Star Sports, Patel said: "This question will always be raised when you play after a long time. It will take Virat and Rohit some time. No matter how much you practice, when you go to the ground wearing an India T-shirt, a lot of things take over. Obviously, Rohit has worked a lot on his fitness, and we know how Virat keeps working on his fitness, so that question will never be asked.
"The question is about match fitness, as to how you manage yourself on the ground. There is no doubt that they will get used to the atmosphere, but match fitness will definitely be a question. However, whenever questions are asked, Virat Kohli has given solid answers. So I have a prediction. In this three-ODI series, you might see Virat Kohli becoming the Man of the Series."
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What next for the Indian cricket team?
Most of the Indian players will hardly get a day off after the ongoing Test series against West Indies which culminates on October 14. They will jet off to Australia for the eight-game white-ball tour in batches on October 15.
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