India's ODI captain Rohit Sharma hit the nets and kicked off his preparation for his highly-anticipated ODI return. Hitman returned to the nets to start his preparations for the upcoming ODI series against Australia. On Wednesday, September 11, the veteran batter took to the practice pitch for the first time since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The Mumbai Indians' last match was on June 1 against Punjab Kings.
Rohit Sharma returns to the nets ahead of Australia series
Rohit, who hasn't played international cricket since leading India to victory in the 2025 Champions Trophy final on March 9, shared a video on his Instagram account. "That felt good," he captioned the video
Now a specialist in the ODI format after retiring from T20Is in 2024 and Test cricket just before the England tour, Rohit's return to the nets hints at his strong desire to make a comeback and play in the 2027 ODI World Cup.
The Men in Blue are scheduled to tour Australia from October 19 to November 8, for a series of three ODIs and five T20Is. The ODI matches will take place on October 19, 23, and 25. The five-match T20I series will be held on October 29 and 31, followed by matches on November 2, 6, and 8.
Both Rohit and Virat could make their return to competitive cricket in the India A series. The Australia A team is scheduled to tour India from September 16 to October 5 for two unofficial Tests and three unofficial ODIs. The three unofficial one-dayers will be played on September 30, and October 3 and 5. Both veteran batters have retired from Test and T20I cricket and are now focusing solely on the ODI format. This series could provide them with a chance to get back into form before the main tour of Australia.
Against Australia in the ODI format, Rohit has scored 2407 runs in 46 matches. Virat, on the other hand, has a slightly higher tally with 2451 runs from 50 matches against the six-time world champions. If Rohit is selected for the upcoming series and plays at least one match, he will join an elite list of Indian cricketers who have played 500 international matches for the country. He would be the fifth Indian player to achieve this milestone, following Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli.