You might think Virat Kohli isn’t done yet. But the numbers don’t paint a rosy picture.
After hanging up his boots in the longest format, the former Team India skipper still has the 50-over version to put his best foot forward. But then there are only nine one-day internationals up his alley in 2025.
For the remainder of the ongoing year, the Men in Blue will play bilaterals versus Bangladesh, Australia and South Africa. And the total number of games amount to nine. So for the remainder of 227 days, the Gautam Gambhir-coached team will have a limited outing in the limited overs format.
Here’s a chart for your reference:
India's ODI match list for 2025
Having already played seven ODIs this year (including the Champions Trophy where he scored a 100* against Pakistan), Kohli is averaging 45.83 with 275 runs to his name.
While 2025 seems like a lean year for Kohli, 2026 will be a little different with India scheduled to play 18 ODIs, leading up to the 2027 ICC Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The Future Tours Program roster is updated by the ICC till the end of 2026, and the World Cup is scheduled for October-November 2027.
Going by a tentative 2026 schedule, India are expected to play:
- Three ODIs versus New Zealand (Home)
- Three ODIs versus Afghanistan (Home)
- Three ODIs versus England (Away)
- Three ODIs versus West Indies (Home)
- Three ODIs versus New Zealand (Away)
- Three ODIs versus Sri Lanka (Home)
In a nutshell, we will see Kohli play for India only 27 times till 2027, provided he is not benched.