As we step into the second half of 2025, cricket fans across India have plenty to look forward to. The 3-match ODI and 5-match T20I series between India and Australia starts on 19th October 2025.
This series is much anticipated by cricket fans not only because this is the clash between the top two teams in World cricket, but it also marks the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
This series will be even more because of the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, making their first appearance on the field since the conclusion of IPL 2025. Their return in the ODI’s is about much more than just team balance.
Their absence from the field has undeniably taken the spark out of cricket, leaving fans less engaged. Both Rohit and Kohli didn’t show up for domestic matches or in India A squad that is set to clash against Australia A later this month in Kanpur.
This sparked a question on their fitness and form, and former cricketer Aakash Chopra suggested they would have benefited from the game time at the ‘A’ Level. But the selector, Ajit Agarkar, planned to put them straight into the senior team and use the Australia tour as the stage of their comeback.
Kohli and Rohit Resume Training Ahead of Upcoming Matches
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both have started the training as Rohit recently shared a training video on social media, while Kohli has been spotted in lengthy net session
Their comeback against Australia is much awaited as they haven’t been seen on the Cricket field since the conclusion of IPL 2025.
As the 2027 World Cup is not too far away, the series against Australia will decide on how stable and strong the team is with the mixture of star players and young talent in tough conditions and the Australian pitches and the team will be a perfect place to test the current form, skills and fine-tune combinations ahead of the World Cup.
Rohit and Kohli scored more than 25,000 International runs for India and have more than 15 years of experience. In their absence, young talent like Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Verma made their place strong in India’s playing XI. On the other hand, Australia could also go with some new names in the absence of Pat Cummins and after the retirement of Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell .
BCCI is yet to announce their Squad against Australia. Looking at the performance of Indian players in IPL 2025 and domestic circuit, the probable 15-men squad may look like this:
Probable 15-Man Squad:
Full Squad (15 Players)
- Captain: Rohit Sharma
- Batsmen: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer
- Wicketkeepers: KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant
- All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja
- Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
- Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh
Shubman Gill is likely to be rested as India is scheduled to play the home test series against the West Indies right after the conclusion of the Asia Cup 2025.
This balanced team reflects how the selectors want to keep the experienced core that reached the 2023 World Cup final but with a mixture of youth.
Beyond tactics, the series is most importantly about leadership and presence. Players like Rohit & Kohli don’t just bring runs for their team, they bring confidence, authority and mentorship for young talents in the team.
India’s white-ball journey hasn’t been very good for a while, and this will be a golden chance for the team to make a comeback, which could set the tone for the next two years.
