Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the Indian Test team via Instagram story on Wednesday evening, confirming that he was stepping back from his role as opener and captain for the red-ball team. However, Rohit Sharma’s decision to step back means that he will not be on the receiving end of a farewell despite a long 11-year career within the Indian Test unit.
Rohit Sharma had a more memorable farewell to a different format, when he announced his retirement from T20I cricket right after lifting the T20 World Cup title in Barbados in 2024, alongside long-time teammates Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.
Rohit Sharma’s final Test match was at the iconic MCG against Australia for the Boxing Day Test in 2024, before he sat out of the New Year’s Test in Sydney in the subsequent match. India are searching for a new captain ahead of the new WTC cycle, beginning on June 20 at Headingley in Leeds, with Jasprit Bumrah and Shubman Gill high amongst the list of candidates.
Rohit Sharma’s test career as skipper and batter for India
Team India’s former Test captain Rohit Sharma bid adieu to the purest format on Wednesday, May 7. Notably, the ravishing batter had a decent career, whereby he featured in 67 Test matches, in which he scored 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57 and led the team on 24 occasions in the red-ball format.
There have been incredible performances from the 38-year-old Indian batter, known for his fearless approach and unbelievable stroke-making. Rohit Sharma started his red-ball cricket career in 2013 and has finally bid farewell to the prestigious format after 11 years. Although he began his career as a budding middle order batter, he later emerged as one of the finest openers for the team.
Rohit Sharma’s career has been filled with huge records. Although he does not have a particularly long career in the five-day format compared to other legends of the game, he has achieved some remarkable milestones in Test cricket. It is time to discuss some of these great records that might be tough for any individual to break.
Test cricket is not traditionally known for a flurry of big sixes, but Rohit Sharma displayed his big-hitting ability during a game against South Africa in Visakhapatnam in 2019. Rohit struck six sixes in the first innings and seven sixes in the second innings of the game, amassing a total of 13 maximums—the most by any international player in the a red-ball format game. He went on to score two centuries in that match as well.
Rohit Sharma’s first Test match for was against the West Indies at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The ‘Hitman’ came in to bat at number six and played an incredible knock of 177 off 301 deliveries during a crucial stage of the game. Although there have been higher scores at this position, it is exceptionally challenging for a debutant to achieve such a total, especially while batting at number six.
While scoring a Test century is always a huge achievement for any player, it is even more special when it comes in a winning cause—something Rohit consistently achieved in this format. The 38-year-old batter Rohit Sharma has scored 12 centuries in Test cricket, and remarkably, all of those 100+ scores came in matches that India won. This is perhaps one of the records set by the former Indian Test skipper that might be the hardest to break.
Michael Atherton has claimed that Rohit Sharma’s Test retirement didn’t come as a surprise as the 38-year-old’s form was dwindling and India weren’t performing well under his captaincy.
Was that retirement Rohit Sharma’s completely decision?- Michael Atherton
Former England captain Michael Atherton said that Rohit Sharma announced his Test retirement because he knew that his time was coming amid Team India’s Test transition. The veteran batter officially parted ways with the format on May 7, ahead of the England tour, and the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC).
There was considerable pressure on Rohit Sharma’s status as captain as batter and captain following Team India’s poor run of results in the format. The Men in Blue suffered a 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand at home, before losing 1-3 in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series in Australia, costing them a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final.
Rohit Sharma’s performances with the bat during the aforementioned series were also quite alarming. With only 31 runs in three Tests against Australia, he dropped himself from the decisive fifth Test in Sydney. There was speculation that Rohit Sharma is in the scheme of things for the England tour, especially after guiding Team India to the Champions Trophy 2025.
However, Rohit Sharma decided to retire shortly after reports emerged that his captaincy and place in the playing XI were under threat.
Atherton highlighted the same fact, opining that the veteran made the call after knowing that he could be sidelined in England.
“Was that retirement completely his own decision, or did he get a sense that he’s about to be pushed or the axe was coming because there was a report, the day before the announcement from Rohit, that the selectors had decided to move on,” Atherton said on Sky Sports (via India Today).
“So that’s speculation, we don’t know, but ultimately the decision didn’t come as a surprise because it’s a bad combination for any captain, as you know, and as I know well if you’re losing games, and you ain’t getting any runs, and India had lost 5 out of the last 6 matches under Rohit’s captaincy.
Three against New Zealand and a couple in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and his form had really tailed off and of course, that’s a bad combination for any captain,” the former England captain added.
Team India are in search of a new Test captain after Rohit Sharma’s abrupt retirement. Shubman Gill is being viewed as a viable candidate given that he is the white-ball vice-captain, coupled with his leadership experience in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
In a career that spanned over a decade, Rohit Sharma had to wait for a significant time before being a bonafide part of the red-ball side. The right-handed batter was heading nowhere in the middle-order, before a push to the top of the order revived his career altogether.
Although his recent numbers have blemished his overall record a touch, the Hitman managed to leave a legacy in the longest format as well.
“I think people will look at him and his best format is ODI cricket. He’s going to go down as one of the greatest ODI openers, isn’t he? But a funny Test career. He had to wait for a long time to get in and then almost a career of two halves in Test cricket, averaging just a tick over 40 in the end with a dozen hundreds means it’s a successful record, but not quite a stellar record,” Atherton said.
Rohit Sharma scored 4301 runs in 67 Tests at an average of 40.58, with 18 fifties and 12 hundreds to his name. He was appointed Team India’s Test captain in 2022, and led the side to the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) Final.
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