India, Nov. 29 -- Sydney felt like a throwback - Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rolling back the years with a chasing masterclass after two failures in Australia. It looked, from the outside, like the kind of innings that ensures your spot in the near future, especially with an ODI World Cup coming up in 2027.

Inside Indian cricket, it has done the opposite. With the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa now the lodestar, the dead-rubber revival has only sharpened the question: Are India building around Rohit-Kohli, or building beyond them?

The basic facts are clear. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are now effectively one-format players, having stepped away from Tests and T20s, and returning to ODIs after long gaps. Their last 50-over assignmen...