Team India, unbeaten throughout the tournament, cliched the Champions Trophy title after beating New Zealand in the final on Sunday. This was India’s second ICC title in two years following the T20 World Cup win in Bridgetown in 2024. It all has come under the leadership of stalwart Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma assumed India’s captaincy back in 2021 at the age of 34. 

Following India’s T20 World Cup victory last year, Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game and this time, ahead of the Champions Trophy, there were rumours swirling around that Indian skipper might call time on his ODI career at the end of the tournament. However, Rohit Sharma dismissed all rumours surrounding his ODI retirement during the press conference.

“One more thing, I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure no more rumours are spread,” Rohit had said during the press conference.

Meanwhile, one of the game’s most respected figures, Ricky Ponting weighed in on Rohit’s decision and pointed that Rohit had specific goal in his mind. 

“When you start getting to that point of your career, everyone's waiting for you to retire. And I don't know why, when you can still play as well as he's played (in the final), I think he was just trying to put those questions to bed once and for all and say, ‘no, I'm still playing well enough. I love playing in this team. I love leading this team,” Ponting said on the ICC

“And I think, the fact that he said that, to me, it means that he must have that goal in mind of playing in the next (50-over) World Cup (in 2027).”

Ponting further believed that a sense of unfinished business might have contributed to Rohit’s decision. 

"I think probably the fact that they lost the last one and he was captain, that might be the thing that's playing on the back of his mind," Ponting said.

“Just have one more crack at trying to win the T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and the ODI World Cup."

"I mean when you see him play like he played in the Champions Trophy final, you wouldn't say that his time is up just yet," Ponting added.