All eyes will once again be on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as India take on England in a fresh ODI series, with the opening match set for July 14 at Edgbaston. India's squad for this series has experienced names like Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, but the one player England's bowlers will be most wary of is Rohit Sharma. Before the series kicks off, it is worth looking back at exactly how strong Rohit's ODI record in England has been over the years, because those numbers explain why he remains such a feared presence there.
Rohit's bat has always spoken loudly on English soil
After India, England is the country where Rohit Sharma has piled up the most runs. Across his entire ODI career he has scored 11720 runs at an average of nearly 49, but that average climbs sharply to 65 once the venue shifts to England. In 27 ODIs played on English grounds, he has scored 1428 runs, including 7 centuries and 7 half-centuries. That works out to a fifty or more roughly once every three matches he has played there, a run so consistent that English conditions have almost come to feel like a second home for him. Given numbers like these, it would not be an exaggeration to say England's bowlers carry a particular sense of unease whenever Rohit walks out to bat against them.
2026 has not been kind to Rohit's form
This year, however, has been a different story for Rohit in ODI cricket. He has featured in just 6 ODI matches in 2026, scoring only 204 runs across 6 innings at an average of 34. In that stretch he has managed just one half-century, which came against Afghanistan in the previous ODI series. Even so, his strike rate through this lean patch has stayed at 100, meaning that while the runs have been fewer, he has not slowed down when he has been at the crease. The question now is whether English conditions, which have historically been so kind to him, can help him rediscover his best form, or whether the 2026 slump continues into this series as well.
Rohit's focus has shifted squarely to the 2027 World Cup
Rohit Sharma has already retired from Test cricket and T20 Internationals, and now plays only ODIs and the IPL. He walked away from Test cricket last year, while he bid farewell to the T20 format for good right after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup. With those two exits behind him, his entire focus now rests on a single format, ODIs, and specifically on next year's ODI World Cup. Staying fit and maintaining his form will be crucial if he wants to hold his place and continue leading the side into that tournament, especially with questions around his age and consistency never far away. That is exactly why this series against England carries extra weight as a test of his form heading into a big year, and it will be worth watching closely how Rohit's bat responds once the series gets underway at Edgbaston.
