Former India skipper and batting stalwart Rohit Sharma entered the new year as the No.1 ranked ODI batter. However, he failed to replicate his recent heroics where he dominated in both international and domestic cricket, in the ongoing three-match IND vs NZ ODI series.
Rohit Sharma had looked in stellar form of late, during the Australia tour in October last year followed by the home Proteas series, where he hit a century and two fifties respectively. He also plied his trade for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT 2025-26), scoring a century but unfortunately struggled to get going against the Kiwis.
The dynamic India ODI opener managed scores of 26, 24 and 11 from three innings, finishing the series at a subpar average.
Following his soft dismissal on 11 in the decisive IND vs NZ 3rd ODI today (January 18) with the series on the line, fans got concerned surrounding Rohit Sharma’s future with the 2027 ODI World Cup lined up next year.
There is already some amount of uncertainty if Rohit will be a part of India’s plans for the ICC event but so far, he has continued to be in the team, although fans remain sceptical. Furthermore, there are reports which suggest India coach Gautam Gambhir played a role in Rohit Sharma being removed as ODI captain and might now take the final call on the Indian star after his performance in the New Zealand series.
Check some of the reactions below.
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Speaking about the IND vs NZ 3rd ODI, the Men in Blue face an uphill task in the chase of a towering 338 with the series on the line. The Men in Blue lost openers Rohit Sharma (11) and Shubman Gill (23) cheaply and while Virat Kohli held the fort from one end, wickets kept tumbling from the other with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul also departing in quick succession next.
At the time of writing this report, the India scoreboard reads 77/4 in 13.4 overs with Virat Kohli and Nitish Kumar Reddy currently batting in the middle.
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