CHENNAI: In many ways, the writing was on the wall. The signs were there on January 2, 2025 on the eve of the fifth and final Test against Australia in Sydney. After head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to confirm Rohit Sharma's place in the playing XI, the Indian captain was detached and did little during the training session ahead of a must-win game. He stood with deputy Jasprit Bumrah and watched the rest train before having a short stint with the reserve batters.
Three days earlier, when he addressed the media after losing in Melbourne, Rohit wore a resigning look like never before. He spoke about looking within himself, after a horror run with the bat and how disturbing it has been. If that was the first sign of Rohit playing his last Test in Melbourne, the proceedings in Sydney only reaffirmed it.
While Rohit said he had dropped himself and is not retiring anytime soon on day two of the Sydney Test which India went on to lose, it all came to an end on Wednesday evening as the Indian captain announced that he is calling it a day as Test cricketer. "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," Rohit wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of faded Test cap.
Rohit’s announcement comes after reports of the selectors conveying the BCCI about moving on from the captain for the upcoming tour of England. His place and captaincy had been under the scanner in the second half of 2024 when India lost a home Test series for the first time in 12 years. His poor form in batting and captaincy continued in Australia where India lost in Adelaide, held on to a draw in Brisbane before crumbling in the Boxing Day Test. That it happened after Bumrah had led India to victory in Perth only added pressure as Rohit did not take part in the fifth and final Test of the series. And it ended up being his last Test series as an India cricketer.
For someone who was always looked at as 'unfulfilled potential' in Test cricket, Rohit came to his own six years after making his debut during Sachin Tendulkar's farewell series against West Indies in 2013. For the better part of the decade, he would be moved up and down the order before being made a regular opener in 2019. Rohit, since then, showed what he was capable of, scoring 2552 runs at 50.03 as an opener till home Test series against England in 2024. In the next six Tests, he managed only 145 runs as his overall average dropped to 42.8.
If Rohit as a batter had a second-coming when he became opener, his captaincy tenure had its moments as well. He initially took over the white-ball duties after Virat Kohli was removed from ODI captaincy, soon Rohit was named skipper across formats. In the three years since he took over, India handed as many as 13 debuts with nine of them being batters. He batted alongside five different opening partners before dropping himself down after KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal succeeded in Perth. He led India to home Test victories against England and Australia, and drew a series in South Africa. However, he failed to win a game in England and Australia.
In all, he captained 24 games, won 12, lost nine and drew three matches. But the highlight has always been about how he handled the youngsters in the team, had his share of comical moments on the field as well as in front of the press. The series against England when India had a fresh middle-order and came back from behind to win 4-1 will remain one of the high points. As for his legacy, Rohit was brought in to end the dearth of ICC trophies and he did just that winning two of them while almost winning another. He still vows to continue as an ODI batter and captain, but in the longest format, Rohit could not replicate similar results. While he will continue to smash the white leather all over the park and pursue his goal of winning the ODI World Cup, Rohit the Test cricketer, came in and did his job as a batter and captain in taking the team forward. And for that, Test cap No. 280 will reserve a significant chapter in the annals of Indian cricket.
