Former Indian Women’s team skipper Anjum Chopra opined that Virat Kohli, the Indian legend who recently retired from Test cricket, still had much Test cricket left in him. He heaped praises on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and backed them for the ICC ODI World Cup 2027.
Virat Kohli announced his retirement from the longest format of the game back in May, ahead of the start of the new ICC World Test Championship cycle. He left the entire cricket fraternity shocked by the sudden announcement, and since then has featured only in ODI cricket.
However, Kohli has been almost reliving his prime in the 50-over format. With three centuries in the last 9 international innings for the great Indian batsman, alongside his three half-centuries in chases, Kohli finished 2025 as India’s highest run-getter in the format and started 2026 on the same note.
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Virat Kohli still had much Test cricket left in him – Anjum Chopra
Former Indian captain Anjum Chopra showed some belief in Virat Kohli’s abilities to excel in the longest format of the game
“100%,” she replied when asked if Virat had more Test cricket left in him, as quoted by FirstPost. (He) definitely had. Why do you want to have the same yardstick or thought-process (in ODIs)? We have already seen (what happened) in Test cricket, why do you want to fall into the trap of missing them in One day cricket (also)? And for what reason? Because they are older than any other (active) cricketer? How does that matter? We need players who will deliver for India.
“After a few years Jasprit (Bumrah) won’t be there, Hardik (Pandya) won’t be there. That will be a time when (the likes of) Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal and Arshdeep Singh (will be the seniors—so what? Eras keep changing, players keep coming in,” Anjum added.
India lost the recent red-ball series at home against South Africa. One of the major highlights in the series was the overaggressive approach from the Indian batters, who failed to put 124 runs on the board, a target that seems chasable for even a minnow.
Anjum pointed out that at such times, the need for batters like Virat Kohli comes into notice. He had much more Test cricket left in him and could continue playing any format with the remarkable fitness he possesses.
Indian captain Anjum Chopra backs Rohit and Virat for CWC 2027
Anjum pointed out how Virat Kohli is currently batting like he was in his prime, and his fitness levels can surely give a complex to any 20-year-old athlete. Rohit Sharma, too, has worked incredibly on his fitness and is looking good.
Speaking of the two seniormost batters in the Indian team, Anjum Chopra pointed out that the way the two teams are batting in the 50-over format, there is no reason for them to be snubbed from the Indian side.
She also went on to cite examples of former cricketers who played until late in their careers, like Alex Stewart for Surrey and, currently, Mohammad Nabi, who plays alongside his 19-year-old son for Afghanistan and domestic teams.
She noted that other players cannot have the same kind of impact because of the sheer experience they possess. “Other players cannot have the same kind of impact because of the sheer experience that these two players ( Virat and Rohit) have under their belt,” Chopra added.
She also made a bold claim that removing Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the team itself means that the Indian side loses its formidability.
“Nobody else in the Indian team has that kind of experience. And you can see it—take out Virat and Rohit from the (ODI) batting lineup—does it look like a formidable unit?” – Anjum added.
Anjum Chopra makes a bold statement on India’s T20 World Cup title defence
When asked about her opinion on whether India could defend their ICC T20 World Cup title in the home edition of the World Cup in 2026, Anjum came up with a very quirky but impressive response.
She quoted one of the lines from Alyssa Healy, who had said, ‘You don’t go out there and defend a World Cup; you go out there and win a World Cup.’
Rohit Sharma, for the first time, will not be part of India’s T20 World Cup squad after being the only constant in the 9 previous squads that featured in the World Cup for India. The competition would not be simple without the two veterans, and the ICC T20 WC has the record of never being won by the same team in consecutive editions.
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