'If there's no noise, there's no fun': Rohit Sharma brushes off ODI retirement speculation, says he's faced criticism since debut

'If there's no noise, there's no fun': Rohit Sharma brushes off ODI retirement speculation, says he's faced criticism since debut originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Rohit Sharma dismissed retirement chatter and called criticism normal since his debut.
• Scored a historic 138 at Lord's, but India lost the series 2-1.
• Urged patience with India's inexperienced bowling attack going forward.

Rohit Sharma laughs off retirement talk, says criticism has followed him since day one

Rohit Sharma has broken his silence on the swirling speculation surrounding his ODI future, brushing aside weeks of retirement talk that only intensified around the series-deciding clash against England at Lord's.

Speaking to BCCI.tv after the match, the veteran opener made it clear that outside chatter about his future doesn't occupy his mind, and insisted that his sole focus remains contributing to the team whenever he gets the chance to play.

And on Sunday, he let his batting do most of the talking. Chasing a monumental target of 388 at the Home of Cricket, Rohit produced a stunning 138 off 110 deliveries, striking 17 boundaries and five sixes at a strike rate over 125.

Alongside captain Shubman Gill, who contributed 77, he built a commanding 147-run opening stand that kept India firmly in the hunt after England put up a sensational score, built on the contributions from Ben Duckett's 141, Jacob Bethell's 91 and an unbeaten 74 from Joe Root.

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[BCCI/Creimas]

Rohit brought up his century in just 84 balls and marked the moment with a modest fist pump before turning to acknowledge his teammates in the dressing room. It was historic because no Indian batter had scored a century at Lord's in ODIs before the 'Hitman' in 2026.

His innings eventually ended in the 39th over when Bethell had him bowled for 138. Despite Virat Kohli scoring 74 runs, India fell agonisingly short and finished on 360 for 7, 27 runs adrift from the target as England claimed the series 2-1.

Even in defeat, the innings was historic as Rohit was the first Indian batter to score an ODI century at Lord's and the oldest Indian to register a century in the format.

MORE: Shubman Gill reveals if he had 'chat' with Rohit Sharma about ODI retirement after England series

"Look, my job is with the bat. Come and play, represent my country, represent the team. That's what I've been told to do since I made my debut," Rohit said with his typical non chalance.

"So that's what I'm going to do. You know, the noise since I made my debut was there. And till the time I'm going to stay here, it's always going to be there. So it doesn't really matter too much.

"What matters is what I do on the field, try and contribute to the success of the team. That's all my focus is right now. And let the noise be there. You know, if there's no noise, there's no fun. My job is inside, their job is outside. So that's how I look at it."

Rohit Sharma reflects on a series that slipped away

While satisfied with his own knock, Rohit admitted the wider group was disappointed to lose the series after such a strong start in Birmingham.

"A little disappointed with the result because I thought we were playing really good cricket," he said.

"You know, how we started in Birmingham, we played some really good cricket. We fell a little short at Cardiff with the bat actually. It was not enough score on the board. And then here, again, there was a massive total to chase. We tried everything we could with the bat, but again, fell 20-25 runs short with the bat."

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On the bowling front, he asked for patience given the relative inexperience of the current attack. Nonetheless, he expressed hope that the group could learn from this defeat and improve when faced with similar high-pressure situations in the future.

"Again, when it comes to bowling, you got to understand these guys haven't played a lot of ODI cricket," he said. "You got to give them some time. But yeah, hopefully we can learn from this game, take it into our stride, make sure when we come across a situation like that, we try and better ourselves."

He was the most-talked about cricketer before the Lord's ODI and he still remains the most-talked about after his scintillating hundred 🙌

🎥 Hear from the man himself as he soaked everything in to produce a masterclass 🫡 - By @RajalArora#TeamIndia | @ImRo45…

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 20, 2026

Rohit's calm and composed response shows real maturity in crisis

Something is refreshing about a senior player refusing to get rattled by constant speculation, especially at a stage of his career when every score gets dissected for hidden meaning.

Rohit's response wasn't defensive or bitter; it was matter-of-fact, almost as if he's genuinely made peace with scrutiny being part of the deal. That maturity matters, particularly for a dressing room full of younger players watching how senior pros handle pressure.

Whether or not this century changes the selectors' long-term thinking remains to be seen, but Rohit's attitude here sets the right tone regardless of what comes next: focus on the job, let outside noise stay outside.

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