Why are Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma not playing today's IND vs ENG 2025 T20I series?

Team India stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not be in action in the five-match T20I series against England, which gets underway at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, January 22. The Men in Blue will be led by Suryakumar Yadav, with all-rounder Axar Patel taking charge as vice-captain.

Kohli and Rohit announced their retirement from T20Is after India's title-winning run in the 2024 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the West Indies and the USA. The Men in Blue won the mega T20 event for the first time since lifting the cup in the inaugural edition in 2007. India beat South Africa by seven runs in Bridgetown to lift the coveted title.

Rohit had an excellent run with the bat in the T20 World Cup. He finished as the second-highest run-scorer with 257 runs in eight matches at an average of 36.71, including three fifties.

Kohli, on the other hand, had an ordinary tournament until the final. While the top order got out cheaply, he held the fort tightly from one end with a match-saving 76 off 59 deliveries, including six boundaries and two maximums. The knock helped India post 176 runs on the board, which in the end, proved to be enough to win the title.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma enjoyed illustrious T20I careers. The latter finished as the highest scorer in the shortest format at the time of his retirement with 4231 runs in 159 matches, including five centuries and 32 fifties. Kohli, meanwhile, finished third on the list with 4188 runs in 125 matches at an average of 48.69, including a hundred and 38 half-centuries.

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Team India look to gain foothold in T20Is without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

With Rohit and Kohli bidding farewell to T20I cricket, India will now look to find their replacements before the T20 World Cup next year at home.

A young brigade led by Suryakumar Yadav will look to get the home series underway with a win in Kolkata on Wednesday. While the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Tilak Varma have done exceedingly well, it's still early days for them in international cricket.

The England series will be a huge litmus test for the players, and they will look to play out of their skin to cement their berth in the playing XI.