Kohli and Rohit in their comfort zone as India get ready for West Indies

Two days out from the first ODI, fans thronged the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram to catch a glimpse of their heroes as they warmed up

Ashish Pant

Published: Sep 26, 2026, 6:56 AM (2 hrs ago)

Virat Kohli was one of the first ones to pad up for the training session on Friday, two days out from India's first ODI against West Indies. With bats resting on each of his broad shoulders, he walked purposefully towards the first net.

In the adjacent net was Rohit Sharma.

While Kohli looked like he was in Zen mode as he took guard, Rohit was his usual chatty self. Rohit had the India captain Shubman Gill for company as he went on to mark his guard. The Kerala Cricket Association had opened two stands for the public to watch the practice session in Thiruvananthapuram, and the fans rushed in. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were in town, after all.

"On Thursday, only 10-20 people turned up [to watch the training]," a securityman at Greenfield International Stadium said. "But as more people got news of Rohit and Kohli's arrival on Friday, they ran in."

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Thiruvananthapuram is Sanju Samson territory, and few, if any, are likely to surpass his fame in this part of the country. Yet, the Ro-Ko frenzy, even after all these years, remains undimmed. After a brief spell of rain, with the setting sun casting its golden glow across the outfield, Rohit and Kohli were back in their sanctuary, doing what they know best. Two of India's greatest ODI batters - one 37, the other 39 - who are still capable of pulling crowds and turning routine net sessions into carnivals.

Kohli began by taking on the spin of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Naman Dhir. Alongside him, Rohit faced the pace of Gurnoor Brar, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Mohammed Siraj, who bowled as a group. While Rohit was circumspect for much of the session, Kohli was more authoritative, even if he wasn't always at his imposing best. He was bowled by a flighted Kuldeep delivery, but once he got a hang of the surface, the trademark Kohli shots were on display.

The crowd erupted when he backed away just a touch to slap Jadeja over his head. He then went over the covers against Kuldeep and even attempted a couple of reverse sweeps against the offspin of Dhir. If there was any rustiness from not playing competitive cricket for more than two months, Kohli wasn't showing it. He later moved into a second net to face the quicks and even bantered with Brar, who was convinced an outside edge was travelling to a well-positioned imaginary fielder, with Kohli, arms opened wide, having none of it.

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Two months ago, Rohit shrugged off retirement chatter and slammed a 110-ball 138 in the third ODI against England. He has since been anchoring a game show on the telly. But back in familiar territory, with bat in hand, he looked like this was where he belonged.

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Unlike Kohli, who was in attack mode, Rohit was trusting his defensive skills, with Brar, Reddy, Siraj and later Prasidh Krishna testing him on a surface where the ball was seaming around. That isn't to say the balls weren't pinging off the centre of his blade too. Barring a few false shots early in the session, Rohit looked comfortable. He cut Prasidh fiercely, went down the ground against Brar, and rarely went aerial as he looked content walking back after a 30-minute hit.

As India build towards the ODI World Cup next year, Kohli and Rohit remain central to the plans in their quest for a 50-over title, which has eluded them since 2011. While Kohli was part of the side that lifted the trophy then, Rohit, despite a stellar ODI career, doesn't have a World Cup in his bag. India will be banking on their experience to help them get the trophy back.

"It's always great to have experience back in the team. Just to guide Shubman [Gill, the Test and ODI captain] as well," Morne Morkel, the bowling coach, said on Friday. "I must say Shubman has done an exceptional job so far leading the team. But I'm always a big believer in your senior players and how they shape the team. I think different players in the team will feel more comfortable speaking to a certain senior individual and we're quite fortunate that we've got a lot of experience in that.

"So [whether it's] Virat or Rohit leading the conversation, there's a lot of game time and a lot of experience in those conversations that can only be great for the team. We're quite fortunate that we've got that experience with the senior players and for us, it's just to keep on challenging the guys to have the conversation with the senior guys.

"We always throw out as many questions as possible in team meetings for the senior guys to speak and to share their experience. But the challenge is to sometimes ask a younger guy while they're batting in the nets: pick Virat's brain, speak to Rohit about what is important with a new ball up front. So yeah, the more opportunities we can create for conversation with these guys, it's all great for us."

Kohli's last innings in Thiruvananthapuram was a stunning 110-ball 166* against Sri Lanka in 2023. Rohit has a half-century and a 42 at this venue.

The Friday session had the likes of Brar, Prasidh and Reddy bending their backs, and Siraj trying to rediscover his best form after an ordinary Duleep Trophy final, which came after a long break. Yashasvi Jaiswal took special liking to the second tier of the stands in the deep midwicket region. Gill suffered a body blow when Siraj got one to rise unexpectedly.

Amid all of this, the spectators' eyes were fixed on just two men. In a crowded training session where so much was going on everywhere, two men, possibly in the twilight of their careers, owned the evening.

Ashish Pant is a sub-editor with Cricinfo

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