Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will return to international cricket after a couple of months in the three-match ODI series against West Indies beginning in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
Updated: September 23, 2026, 12:42 PM IST
Share Article
https://www.india.com/sports/cricket/good-news-for-rohit-sharma-and-virat-kohli-fans-ahead-of-three-match-odi-series-against-west-indies-8529198/
Rohit Sharma (left) and Virat Kohli(Photo: IANS)
India vs West Indies 2026 ODI: The wait to see Indian cricket legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is almost over for the millions of their fans around the worldA couple of month after their last international appearance – in the 3rd ODI against England at Lord’s on July 19 – the storied duo are set to return to cricket field for the first game of the three-match series against West Indies at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
Team India ODI squad is set to start assembling in Thiruvananthapuram from Thursday onwards while some of the players are expected in the city from Wednesday nightRohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are expected to reach the city from Thursday onwards, according to a report in TOI website.
Indian team’s vice-captain KL Rahul, who has got this position since Shreyas Iyer is leading the T20I side at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan, has been training at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in his home town of Bengaluru to prepare for the seriesHe is hoping to secure a berth in the Indian ODI side as the first-choice wicketkeeper in the build up to the ICC ODI World Cup 2027 next year.
, !
The Caribbean side has arrived and the stage is set for an exciting cricketing battle#INDvWI 1st ODI SUN, 27th SEP, 1 PM pic.twitter.com/3bBrBcZTzr
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 23, 2026
Doubts over Rohit Sharma’s international career
There was plenty of speculation over the future of Rohit Sharma in international cricket in the build-up to the final ODI against England but he silenced his critics by smashing a brilliant 138 at Lord’s although India lost the series 2-1 under the captaincy of Shubman Gill.
The 39-year-old Indian opener has piled up 11895 runs in 288 ODIs at an average of 48.95 with 34 hundreds and 62 fifties till date“They are legends, both Virat bhaiya and Rohit bhaiyaNot just me, but the entire nation hopes that they play in the World Cup and are part of the team that goes on to win it,” Team India batter Rinku Singh told JioStar ahead of series against West Indies.
“It would be a huge moment for the whole country, as who knows, it could be their last World CupSo, it would be huge if they can win it for IndiaIt would be huge for them as well, because we haven’t won the World Cup in a long timeWe last won it in 2011So, we hope both of them are with the team, and that they lift that trophy,” the Kolkata Knight Riders batter added.
Kohli, on the other hand, had scores of 65 and 74 in the last two ODI matches, after scoring only 5 in the first gameThe 37-year-old batter has scored 384 runs in six ODIs in 2026 at an average of 64 and strike-rate of 106.66 with 1 hundred and 3 fifties to his name.
All eyes on fitness of Nitish Kumar Reddy
Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been pulled out of the squad for the Asian Games 2026 to play in the ODI series against West Indies with Hardik Pandya still sidelined due to injuryReddy returned to the Indian side for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan earlier this month after being out of international cricket since June.
India’s ODI team vs West Indies
Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (VC, WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Naman Dhir.
India’s T20I Team vs West Indies
Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma (VC), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav.
