India’s ODI captain Rohit Sharma is leaving no stone unturned as he gears up for his much-anticipated return to competitive cricket. The veteran opener, who last turned out for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2025, has been putting in long hours at the gym to get back into peak shape. Training under the guidance of a close friend and former India assistant coach, Abhishek Nayar, Rohit has already shed an impressive 10 kilograms.
Nayar even shared the progress on social media, posting a picture with the caption: “10,000 grams later, we keep pushing.” Rohit’s last outing in Indian colours came in March when he produced a match-winning knock in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand, a performance that sealed the title for India.
ROHIT SHARMA × ABHISHEK NAYAR 🥶
– Rohit Sharma is working hard for the Australia ODI series..!!!! pic.twitter.com/QWAd9kRjw9
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 24, 2025
Since then, fitness has been his primary focus. Earlier this month, the centrally contracted Indian players underwent a pre-season fitness camp at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru. Rohit was among those who successfully cleared the mandatory drills, including the Yo-Yo test and DXA scan, which measures bone density.
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Interestingly, Virat Kohli was exempted from the camp as he completed his fitness assessment in London, where he currently resides with his family.
Rohit is expected to make his competitive comeback on October 19, when India face Australia in the opening match of a three-game ODI series. While there was speculation that both Rohit and Kohli might feature in India A’s unofficial ODI series against Australia A in Kanpur, neither veteran has been included in the squad.
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Meanwhile, young all-rounder Abhishek Sharma continues to impress with his explosive batting. In the ongoing Asia Cup in Dubai, the southpaw has amassed 248 runs in five innings at a staggering strike rate of 206.67 and an average of 49.60, putting himself in strong contention for a maiden ODI call-up.
