Rohit Sharma hangs his boots in Test cricket, to play ODIs
Rohit Sharma on Wednesday, May 7, announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect, ending the relentless speculation surrounding his future in the longest format and leaving India in need of a new captain for the upcoming five-match series against England.
Having already retired from T20 Internationals after leading India to the World Cup trophy last year, the 38-year-old Rohit will now only be seen captaining the national team in the ODI format.
“Hello everyone, I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket. It’s been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites. Thank you for all the love and support over the years. I will continue to represent India in the ODI format,” he posted on instagram with a picture of his Test cap after PTI’s newsbreak.
The BCCI also confirmed that Rohit will continue to be the ODI captain.
“Thank you, Captain. End of an era in whites! ImRo45 bids adieu to Test cricket. He will continue to lead India in ODIs. We are proud of you, Hitman,” BCCI posted on ‘X’.
India will have a new Test captain for the five-Test series in England starting June 20 with possible candidates being Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant. Bumrah captained the side in a couple of Tests during the tour of Australia.
As of now, Rahul and Gill are front-runners due to vice-captain Bumrah’s recurring fitness issues. Bumrah though can’t be totally ruled out.
Rohit, the man who led India in four ICC tournament finals, winning two of them, is a bonafide legend in the ODIs with more than 11,000 runs and 32 centuries, including three double hundreds.
He bows out from the Test format as India’s most prolific batter in the second half of his career, scoring 4,301 runs in 67 Tests with 12 hundreds and 18 half centuries at an average of 40.57.
“Rohit is determined to play the 2027 ODI World Cup and he will do everything in his power to remain fit and play the mega-event,” a source close to the Indian skipper told PTI.
The circumstances leading up to his announcement on Wednesday were far from ideal.
If a source close to Rohit is to be believed, the champion batter had decided on retiring from Tests after India won the Champions Trophy in March.
And though it was known to the men who mattered, the speculation around his future was allowed to swirl in the media by officials who preferred not to come on record.
“The retirement from Test cricket was on Rohit’s mind since India won Champions Trophy. A new WTC (World Test Championship) cycle was starting and hence he thought this was the best time,” the source close to Rohit added.
“If Rohit had decided that he would call it quits in Tests, where does the question of dropping him comes?,” a former BCCI office-bearer, who has watched Rohit closely over the years, thought aloud.
The selection committee, it is learnt, offered no clarity to Rohit on whether he would make it to the England-bound squad, which is set to be announced some time next week. Rohit, on his part, made it clear to them that he wanted the final call on his career to be his own.
While the Indian selection committee met in Mumbai informally, it couldn’t be confirmed if head coach Gautam Gambhir joined them online from Delhi to discuss the blueprint for the series against England.
Rohit captained India to the World Test Championship final against Australia and had a fairly decent run in the format, apart from the last couple of series against New Zealand at home and the Border-Gavaskar showdown against Australia Down Under earlier this year.
He endured a particularly difficult run during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where he had to drop himself from the playing XI owing to poor form, but he had ruled out retirement at that stage.
There was also widespread speculation about his differences with Gambhir, who had vowed to end the “star culture” in Indian cricket after taking charge last year in July.
Both steadfastly denied the chatter but Gambhir has time and again made it clear that only performance would ensure selection in the team.
The highlight of Rohit’s Test captaincy was without doubt India reaching the final of the World Test Championship in 2023, losing to Australia eventually. It was the same year in which the team lost in the final of the ODI World Cup as well, once again to Australia.
Captaincy candidates
Bumrah, being the best player, was in the running to become the permanent Test captain but his dodgy lower back is a concern for the selectors as he is prone to breakdowns during lengthy series.
Rahul has intermittently captained India and is in good form right now. He is also 33 and has four to five years of international cricket in him, which would be the time required to groom the next captain.
There is a school of thought that prefers Shubman Gill as he could be the next big corporate brand after Virat Kohli that Indian cricket needs.
Rishabh Pant has been a prolific Test player but whether he will have coach Gautam Gambhir’s vote isn’t yet known.
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