Rohit Sharma explains what fueled his India comeback in Oz; ‘understanding what I need to do for rest of my career’

For a cricketer who has played non-stop cricket for the last 15-20 years, having an extended break for three-four months and coming back to international level is never easy. Things were similar for Rohit Sharma. The former Indian captain last played a competitive cricket match during the Indian Premier League in June.

Having retired from Tests and T20Is, Rohit's last ODI came in March during the ICC Champions Trophy final. Players like Rohit and Virat Kohli, who played all three formats in the last 15-20 years, it was very difficult for them to take out time for themselves.

The more than four-month break allowed Rohit to work on himself, with the highlight being losing more than 10kgs besides working on his skillset with long-time friend Abhishek Nayar.

For Rohit, he wanted to do things in his own way and on his own terms with the result is out there for everyone to see - a Player of the Series award in Australia, including a hundred and a half-century.

“Since the time I started playing, I never had four to five months to prepare for a series. I wanted to utilise that, I wanted to do things in my own way, on my own terms,” Rohit told BCCI.tv after his 121 not out helped India to a nine-wicket win over Australia in Sydney.

“And that actually worked out pretty well for me, understanding what I need to do for the rest of my career. It was important to utilise that time because like I said, I never had such time in my hand, so I wanted to utilise that time and I prepared pretty well back home,” added Rohit.

'Rohit will retire only after 2027 World Cup'

With the age not on his side, a lot of talks have been around whether Rohit will be considered for the 2027 ODI World Cup. But with his Australian heroics, the 38-year-old shut all his critics to prove he still has the ability to perform at the highest level.

Rohit's childhood coach Dinesh Lad revealed Rohit will retire from international cricket after the 2027 World Cup in Africa. “There were talks that he was not performing, that he should stop playing cricket, but he played two good innings in the last two matches and has shown he is still a top player who’ll still contribute to the country," Lad told PTI.

“The only secret is his self-confidence. That’s why he hasn’t retired. He wants to play the 2027 World Cup and only retire after that, and he’s preparing for that,” added Lad.