‘Crown Belongs to Kohli’ Trends as Fans Slam BCCI, Selectors on Twitter

India's legendary batter Virat Kohli has been in the news for the last few days. Be it his viral 'white-beard' picture or his future in the one-day Internationals, he has kept fans busy. The premier batter, who has retired from the T20I and Tests, is now only available for the ODI format.

Virat Kohli called time on his T20I career after winning the ICC T20 World Cup, and then retired from the Tests, the format he loves, ahead of the England Test series. His decision came as a massive shock for many, as not many expected him to retire from the longest format of the game this early.

While some related his Test retirement to poor form in the format, many were of the opinion that head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) played a part in it, as they wanted to enter the new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) with young players in the team.

With Kohli now being the only one-format player for India, there have been a lot of speculations over his future in ODIs. Although he has expressed his desire to play the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027 in South Africa and Zimbabwe, there is no clarity whether he will be in the squad or not.

Why is Crown belongs to Kohli Trending on Twitter?

On Sunday (10th August), reports in Dainik Jagran claimed that Virat Kohli, along with Rohit Sharma, might not be in the scheme of things for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027. This is because BCCI is keeping India's future in mind, and with ample white-ball players, who are young, in the mix, the two stalwarts might not be considered.

It is learned that the Australia series, which will feature three ODIs in October, might be the last for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. But, their fate also lies in their hand. If they have to keep their hopes of playing the World Cup in 2027 alive, they will have to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26, as per the reports.

The decision to force Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy has irked the fans, and they lashed out at the governing body. As a result, the fans expressed their anger and started trending ‘Crown belongs to Kohli’ on X (formerly Twitter). It is to be noted that Kohli is the most famous cricketer at the moment and enjoys a huge fan following across the nation.

If the retirement rumors of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli end up being true, it will be a massive blow for the team. The duo has been carrying the burden of the batting lineup for more than the last decade. Even in their late 30s, they are still scoring runs consistently in ODIs. Both of them are among the highest run-getters in ODIs of all time.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli last featured for India in ODIs during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Both had a sensational campaign and helped India win the tournament. While Kohli slammed over 200 runs and played a key knock against Australia in the semi-final, Rohit was the Player of the Match in the final against New Zealand.

When Did Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli Play Vijay Hazare Trophy Last Time?

If the reports of both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma being asked to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy are true, then it will be the first time in a while that they will play this tournament. Notably, both of them also featured in the Ranji Trophy earlier this year. Vijay Hazare Trophy is the premier 50-over domestic tournament in India and has been the platform for several legendary players to shine over the years.

Virat Kohli Vijay Hazare Trophy's last appearance came way back in February 2010. He captained the Delhi team in the match, but after that, he didn’t play this tournament as he became a regular member of the Indian team in all formats.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma was last seen in action in the Vijay Hazare Trophy during the 2018-19 edition. At that time, he wasn't even a regular part of the Test team. During the Test season, he played two games for Mumbai, scoring an unbeaten 33 in the quarter-final against Bihar and 17 runs in the semi-final against Hyderabad.