The childhood coach of Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Lad, said the India captain didn’t retire from Test cricket suddenly or because he was playing badly. He explained that Rohit stopped playing T20s after winning the World Cup so he could focus on winning ICC trophies in Tests and ODIs. Sources also told India Today that the selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, decided not to keep Rohit as Test captain, and it’s unclear if Rohit will still go to England just as a batsman.
A few hours after the news, Rohit surprised many by announcing his Test retirement on Instagram. Earlier this year, during the Australia tour, he had said he wasn’t retiring from Tests and was confident about getting back in form. But since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he played only one first-class game—for Mumbai against Jammu and Kashmir—and didn’t look in good form.
Dinesh Lad told PTI that Rohit Sharma didn’t make his retirement decision suddenly or because of poor form. He said Rohit had chosen to stop playing T20Is after the World Cup but had decided to continue with Tests and ODIs after thinking carefully about what was best for him. Lad also said the decision wasn’t related to the upcoming England tour and believed Rohit mainly wanted to give younger players a chance, similar to what he did after the T20 World Cup.
Rohit Sharma retired from Test cricket before India’s tour of England, finishing with 4301 runs in 67 matches, including 12 centuries. Although his form had dropped recently, he leaves as India’s 10th most successful Test captain, winning 12 out of 24 games. His Test career improved in 2019 when he started opening the innings. Now, he plans to focus only on ODIs and aim for the 2027 World Cup. His retirement also ends the chance of reaching a special milestone with Virat Kohli, as they finished just one run short of 1000 Test partnership runs together.
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