August 21, 2025

In a surprising twist, Indian cricket stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma suddenly vanished from the ICC ODI batting rankings on Wednesday. This sparked huge retirement rumours on social media, making fans worried about the fate of their cricket heroes. But hold your breath! It was just a glitch in the ICC’s system, quickly fixed. After the correction, both legends happily found themselves back in the Top 10, putting all rumours to rest. Just a few days ago, Rohit Sharma was shining at No. 2 with 756 points, while Virat Kohli stood proud at No. 4 with 736 points. They have been regulars in the Top 10 for a long time. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Babar Azam had slipped to third last week when Rohit claimed No. 2. At one point during the glitch, Azam jumped to No. 2, just behind India’s rising star Shubman Gill, but after the fix, Azam settled back at No. 3. Fans noticed with alarm that Kohli and Sharma were missing not just from Top 10, but from even the Top 100 rankings, feeding the fire of retirement talk. But it’s important to know: neither Kohli nor Sharma has played any cricket since IPL 2025. Their last game for India was the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in March. So, can players simply vanish from ICC rankings? Yes! If a player has not played any match within the qualifying period—which is 9-12 months for ODIs—they can be removed. Removal can also happen if a player retires fully or from specific formats. For example, MS Dhoni vanished from Test rankings after retiring from Tests in 2014 but remained in ODI rankings. Both Kohli and Sharma have already bid goodbye to Test matches and T20 Internationals. They retired from the shortest format after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup and quit Test cricket in May this year. That’s why they aren’t on Test and T20I rankings lists anymore. So, cricket lovers, no need to panic! Your legends are very much alive in ODI cricket—and the ranking glitch is just a tech hiccup in the game of life.

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Tags: Virat kohli, Rohit sharma, Icc odi rankings, Retirement rumours, Babar azam, Shubman gill,