Rohit Sharma has never been one to let outside chatter dictate his mood and after smashing a defiant 138 at Lord's, he made it clear that retirement is the last thing on his mind.

Speculation had swirled during India's defeat in the second ODI at Cardiff that the 39-year-old might be nearing the end of his white-ball journey, with some even suggesting the Lord's finale could be his farewell. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia quickly shot down those rumours, and Rohit himself put the matter to rest with a characteristically blunt response.

"Look, my job is with the bat come and play, represent my country, represent the team," he told bcci.tv after the game. "That's what I've been told to do since I made my debut, and that's what I'm going to do."

The noise, he insists, is part of the package. "It doesn't really matter too much. What matters is what I do on the field try and contribute to the team's success. That's all my focus is right now. Let the noise be there. If there's no noise, there's no fun. My job is inside, theirs is outside."

Captain Shubman Gill backed his senior colleague, confirming there had been no internal discussion about Rohit stepping away. "He has not told us anything. I think it's all out in the media," Gill said.

With nearly 12,000 ODI runs and 34 hundreds to his name, Rohit turns 40 in April but if this Lord's knock is anything to go by, he's far from finished. The 2027 World Cup may yet be his swansong, but for now, the veteran is letting his bat do all the talking.