Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are set to link up with India's ODI squad in Thiruvananthapuram by September 24, according to same-day reporting around the team's build-up, marking their first appearance in India colours since India's ODI tour of England in July. Both are expected to feature when the three-match series against West Indies opens at the Greenfield International Stadium on September 27.
India's 15-man ODI squad for the series — captained by Shubman Gill, with KL Rahul as vice-captain — was announced on September 16 and includes both Rohit and Kohli alongside the returning pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj. With several of India's regular white-ball names — Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah among them — unavailable for the ODIs because of the overlapping Asian Games campaign in Japan, Rohit and Kohli's arrival brings two of the squad's most experienced players into a group leaning more heavily than usual on that experience.
Both players' participation in ODI cricket has been closely tracked all year, given the format's importance in the build-up to the next 50-over World Cup. Their last ODI appearance came in the third match of India's tour of England in July, when Rohit made 138 and Kohli added 74 at Lord's, only for England to win the match by 27 runs. Neither has played international cricket since, making Thiruvananthapuram their first competitive fixture back.
With Iyer unavailable, India's ODI top order for this series would otherwise lean on less experienced combinations; Rohit and Kohli slotting back in gives Gill a settled-looking batting group featuring three recent India captains in the same XI. How team management manages workload across a three-match series — with a heavy home season still ahead — will be worth watching, but nothing in the reporting around their return suggests either is being eased in gradually.
For fantasy contests around this series, that settled top order is the headline takeaway: rather than a rebuilding batting line-up feeling its way through a new-look squad, Gill's XI is likely to open with a genuinely senior top three, backed by Ruturaj Gaikwad and KL Rahul in support. The uncapped names in the squad — Naman Dhir and Auqib Nabi among them — will have to wait longer than they might have hoped for a debut opportunity with both senior batters back in the frame.
The first ODI is scheduled for September 27 in Thiruvananthapuram, followed by matches in Guwahati and New Chandigarh to complete the series, before India's focus shifts to a five-match T20I series against the same opponents from October 6 in Lucknow.
Squad news and live scores from India's home assignment against West Indies are available on SportGod's live matches page, with fantasy contests in SportGod's free games and AI-powered previews on SportGod's predictions page.
Squad and travel details are verified against same-day reporting on the West Indies series build-up, current as of September 23, 2026.
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