Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be back on the cricket field after a long break when India face Australia for three ODIs away from home and 22-year-old all-rounder Cooper Connolly has said he is quite excited by the prospect. Two of the most accomplished ODI batsmen of all time, both Kohli and Rohit have captained India in their storied careers but will not have any leadership responsibility officially when in Australia.
“It’s exciting, they’re two world-class players. I’ve played them both before and there’s a bit of aura about them. You just think ‘these guys have played a lot of cricket’ and they have got that strut about them,” Connolly was quoted as saying by ‘The West Australia’.
Connolly said that a lot of fans in Australia would be raring to watch Rohit and Kohli. Rohit was stripped of captaincy, with Shubman Gill being announced as India’s new skipper in ODIs, but was included in the squad along with Kohli for the tour. Both players had last played for India in the Champions Trophy final on March 9 this year, which they won. Their last game of cricket overall was for their respective teams in the 2025 IPL in June.
“They own this game, pretty much. It’s exciting, there will be a lot of fans here to watch those two go about it pretty much and we’re excited to play some good cricket. They’re bringing over a pretty strong squad, but hopefully we can win the series.
“It would be an honour, I’ve obviously looked up to Virat, he’s a nice player. I haven’t had much communication with him, but it’d be an honour to share the field one last time with him.”
Rohit and Kohli both retired from T20Is after India won the T20 World Cup last year. They then retired from Test cricket, with Rohit as captain, during the 2025 IPL after the pair had a dismal time during India’s tour of Australia at the turn of the year.
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
