Rohit Sharma aces fitness test amid reports of uncertain ODI future

Rohit Sharma aces fitness test amid reports of uncertain ODI future (BCCI Photo)

Amidst reports of an uncertain future, Rohit Sharma gave a strong response to the doubters by acing the pre-season fitness test at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday. The development was reported by PTI, which stated Test skipper Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Jitesh Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Washington Sundar, and Shardul Thakur also took part in the test.

Apart from the now standard Yo-Yo test, a DXA Scan, which is a simplified method to test bone density, was also done during the fitness test.

If we focus on Rohit, he has been out of action since IPL 2025, during which he also announced his retirement from Test cricket. Having already retired from T20Is as well, Rohit's services are now just available in ODIs and he'll only return to action when the team travels to Australia for white-ball series. India are scheduled to play three ODIs, starting from October 19 and five T20Is, which gets underway from October 29.

Meanwhile, it is also being reported that in order to get some game time, Rohit, who is India's ODI skipper, will be taking part in the India A clashes against Australia A. These matches will be played in Kanpur on September 30, October 3 and 5.

The report further mentioned that "Rohit is likely to stay back in the city for a few more days to train at the CoE."

Gill, on the other hand, who is projected to succeed Rohit will be travelling to Dubai soon for the Asia Cup, starting on September 9. He along with teammates Bumrah and Jitesh also passed the fitness parameters. Gill has been named as Suryakumar Yadav's deputy for the continental showdown after an excellent start to Test captaincy in the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

A fitness test became mandatory for Gill as he had to pull out of the Duleep Trophy, where he was named the North Zone captain, because of a fever, and was resting at his home town for the last few days.