It was days after the 2019 World Cup, and Ravi Shastri, then India’s head coach, and Bharat Arun, bowling coach, met me for coffee at a cafe next to Hyde Park in London. The disappointment of the semi-final loss was still very raw, and none of us could stop taking about it for a while. Only towards the end of the conversation did we start looking ahead. And one of the first things Shastri said was that he needed to make Rohit Sharma open in Test cricket. “If I don’t get him to open in Test cricket, my tenure as a coach will be incomplete” said Ravi at the time.
Since then, Rohit has been a constant in the Indian Test team at the top of the order, until the last tour of Australia. Needless to say, he worked incredibly hard on his game, as was evident in the 2021 Test series in England. In fact, it was his highest point as a Test batter and a series where he left balls as a second habit. For one of the greatest white-ball players of the time, it was a Herculean feat.
#Rohit‘s decision to retire from Test cricket came all of a sudden and surprised many. But it was a decision taken in the best interest of the team by a player who remains available for the 50-over format.@BoriaMajumdar https://t.co/WAbLfyztM9
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) May 7, 2025
Rohit, it must be said, did not want to be India’s Test captain. When Sourav Ganguly as BCCI President offered him the job in February 2022, he was hesitant. In fact, he wanted to think over it for a while and it was Ganguly who had to persuade him to take the job. But once appointed leader, he displayed excellent captaincy skills and guided India to the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final.
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Was the decision hard, and did Rohit still have red-ball cricket left in him? The truth is, every retirement call is hard, and this was no diffefent. Having said that, it seems the right call. Knowing Rohit well, he wouldn’t do anything unless he was certain of it, and the England tour is too big for Indian cricket. Even if he felt 99 percent ready, he wouldn’t go, and that’s what seems to have happened. As a team player, he decided it was better to hand over the baton and move on. Give it to Shubman Gill, and let him carry the legacy forward.
The good thing is that he will continue to be there for white-ball cricket, its 50-overs version. There is every reason to believe that he wants to play the 2027 World Cup. Rohit has won the T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy, and played the WTC final. The loss in the 50-over World Cup final, on his watch, will surely rank as his most painful memory. It may well be that he wants to redeem that. The missing puzzle piece in a stellar career. As we bid him farewell from red-ball cricket, we will all wait to watch him in ODIs.
Wish him a happy red-ball retirement, and a prolonged 50-overs career.
OFFICIAL: Rohit Sharma has announced his Test retirement. He will continue to play ODI cricket https://t.co/62P83dzJBY pic.twitter.com/T3J7fvPAXN
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) May 7, 2025