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Speaking at the CAB Annual Awards ceremony in Kolkata on September 7, Nehra emphasized that with the tournament still more than a year away, plenty could change in either direction for the two senior players. The next 50-over World Cup is scheduled to be held across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in 2027, by which point Rohit will be 40 years old and Kohli 39. Both players have already retired from Twenty20 Internationals and Test cricket, continuing to feature for India only in the ODI format.

According to Nehra, cricket's unpredictable nature makes it difficult to offer any firm prediction about their participation at this stage. "We all know what Rohit and Virat have achieved over the last decade. But for me, 13 months is a long time. It is very difficult to say right now whether Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli will be there," he said, according to a report by RevSportz. Nehra added that age alone should not be treated as a disqualifying factor for either player, pointing instead to the broader uncertainty surrounding several other members of India's squad, including younger players. "Age is just a number. We talk about Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah, but even Shubman is not in the T20 squad," he noted, suggesting that selection debates extend well beyond the veteran duo alone.

He further stressed that performances can shift dramatically within a short span, drawing on his own experience in Indian and international sport, where situations have been known to change substantially within just two or three weeks. Rohit and Kohli were last seen in ODI action during India's series against England in July, which India lost 2-1. Rohit finished that series with 175 runs, including a century, while Kohli contributed 144 runs across two half-centuries, results that offered some reassurance about their continued relevance in the format even amidswirling retirement speculation. Nehra's comments echoed similar sentiments expressed earlier by India head coach Gautam Gambhir, who has also declined to guarantee the duo's participation in the 2027 tournament, citing the long runway still remaining before the event.

The uncertainty surrounding Rohit and Kohli's ODI futures has become a recurring talking point across Indian cricket in recent months, with other prominent former players, including AB de Villiers and Sourav Ganguly, offering similarly cautious assessments. De Villiers has pointed out that neither player's spot is guaranteed heading into 2027, emphasizing that both would need to continue performing consistently to remain in contention, while Ganguly has framed their World Cup prospects as dependent on sustained motivation and form over the coming series. Notably, Rohit recently lost the ODI captaincy to Shubman Gill, even as both he and Kohli retained their places in India's squad for select upcoming assignments.

Looking ahead, India are set to play a three-match ODI series against the West Indies beginning September 27, followed by five ODIs against New Zealand and three-match series each against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, offering Rohit and Kohli further opportunities to strengthen their case for World Cup selection. Reflecting on India's past campaigns, Nehra also drew a comparison between the team's 2003 and 2023 World Cup runs, noting that both editions saw India dominate through the tournament only to fall short in the final, a pattern he said was simply "part and parcel of the game" rather than cause for dwelling on past disappointments. With selectors yet to offer any definitive statement on the pair's long-term futures, the debate over their World Cup participation appears set to continue building momentum with every squad announcement between now and 2027.