Explained: Why Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma won't participate in Asia Cup 2025 in India

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were part of India’s Asia Cup 2023-winning squad.

The subcontinent’s biggest international cricket tournament – Asia Cup – which is played once in two years, will return with the next edition in 2025, which will be played in India. The next edition of the men’s Asia Cup will be played in 2027, which will be hosted in Bangladesh.

The upcoming two editions of Asia Cups will feature six teams. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have their spots confirmed, and the sixth side will be added through a qualification tournament.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) recently released an Invitation for Expression of Interest (IEOI) document for sponsorship rights. The document invited parties to bag sponsorship rights of the next two Asia Cup tournaments.

Despite India hosting the tournament next year, the fans in India won’t see two of the biggest stars of the current generation – Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – play in the tournament.

Why will Rohit Sharma and Virat not play in the Asia Cup 2025 in India?

The reason why Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli won’t play at the Asia Cup 2025 in India because the tournament will be played in T20 format. Since both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have already retired from T20I cricket, they won’t be part of the next year’s continental tournament.

After winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, the legendary duo of Rohit and Kohli announced their retirement from the shortest international format. However, both veteran Indian cricketers will continue to represent the national side in the other two formats. This means that the duo could play in the ODI Asia Cup 2027 in Bangladesh, given they don’t call it quits.

How did Rohit and Kohli perform in the ODI and T20 Asia Cups?

In the Men’s ODI Asia Cup, Rohit is the second-highest run-getter for the Indian cricket team after legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

The 37-year-old Rohit has smashed 939 runs in 28 matches, whereas Sachin amassed 971 runs. Meanwhile, Kohli is the third-highest run-getter for India in the ODI Asia Cup with 742 runs in 16 matches.

In the Men’s T20 Asia Cup, the 35-year-old Kohli is the leading run-getter in the tournament with 429 runs in 10 matches; Rohit is the third-highest run-scorer with 271 runs in 9 outings.

India are the most successful side in the history of Asia Cup tournaments. The Men in Blue have won seven ODI titles and one T20 title in the continental event till now.

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