Rohit Sharma’s retirement from Test saw the BCCI appoint Shubman Gill as the new red-ball captain. Gill has already begun his tenure as Test skipper, and was in action as India’s new Test skipper in the ongoing India vs England series. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s departure from the longest format is also witnessing a new generation of cricketers take over the mantle.
There were also reports and speculation that Rohit Sharma was pressurised to quite Test cricket by the BCCI. There has been no concrete evidence regarding that. Jaydev Shah, who was the Indian team’s manager during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy lifted the lid on Rohit Sharma’s retirement and revealed that he wasn’t forced out of Test cricket.Rohit Sharma’s announcement came just weeks before India’s selection for the England series.
Having recently led India to Champions Trophy 2025 glory, Rohit Sharma still remains in action in ODI cricket. He announced his retirement from T20Is after leading India to the T20 World Cup title in 2024. Rohit Sharma retired from Tests with 4301 runs in 67 Test matches, averaging 40.57 despite the poor recent run. He scored 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries over the years, with a best of 212, against South Africa in Ranchi in October 2019.
Rohit Sharma’s decision comes after poor home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand late last year and then a horror tour of Australia across December 2024 and January 2025, where he crossed 50 just once and averaged 10.93 from eight Test matches. India won both the Tests against Bangladesh, but were swept 3-0 by New Zealand under Rohit’s captaincy, and then lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia 3-1.
Rohit Sharma missed the first and last Tests on that tour of Australia, the first to be at home in India for the birth of his child, and the last, in Sydney, where he “stood down”. At the time, he had stressed that it was just that, a reaction to his poor batting form, not a “retirement decision”, and that he was not “going to take myself out of the game”. Jasprit Bumrah is currently India’s designated vice-captain and led in the first and last Tests in Australia in Rohit’s absence.
Reflecting on some aspects of his Test career that he decided to end earlier this year, former India captain Rohit Sharma on Monday (August 25, 2025) said the format is both “challenging and draining” but he learnt to cope with its demands by focusing on preparation.
Rohit Sharma reflecting on his Test retirement ahead of ODI season 2025 leaves fans emotional
Star India batter Rohit Sharma has said that although Test cricket is mentally very challenging and draining, all players are brought up playing first-class cricket and hence they know how much hard work it takes to shine on the biggest stage in the longest format. Rohit Sharma, who scored 4,301 runs at an average of 40.58 in 67 Tests, retired from the longest format in May, a year after stepping away from T20Is, where he had signed off by leading India to a World Cup win.
On Monday, Rohit Sharma looked back at some of that time during a CEAT event while speaking on preparations for big moments during a panel discussion.
“It’s something that you prepare for, because the game demands longevity. Especially in the Test format, you have to last for five days. Mentally, it is very challenging and it is draining as well,” Rohit Sharma said while speaking at the event in Mumbai.
“But all cricketers have been brought up playing First-Class cricket. When we start playing cricket at a competitive level, even in Mumbai, club cricket (matches) go on for two days or three days, so we are built like that, and it starts at a very young age for us,” Rohit Sharma added.
The Indian ODI captain said that not all young cricketers understand the importance of preparing well at the beginning of their careers, but they learn the significance of it slowly.
“…when I started playing the sport, it was all about having fun, enjoying it. As you go on, you start playing age-group cricket and you kind of keep moving forward from that,” Rohit said.
“Slowly, as you meet a lot of senior players (and) coaches, they talk about how important it is to prepare well. When you are very young, you don’t understand the importance of preparation,” Rohit added.
The star Indian batter said that sustaining momentum for high performance, in Tests, starts with being fresh.
“It takes a lot when you’re playing the longest format and concentration is something that is the key, because you are speaking about high-level performance and when you are expecting to put in high-level performance, it starts with being mentally fresh all the time,” Rohit said.
Rohit Sharma has been out of action for over two months now, last having played in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2025 for the Mumbai Indians, which they lost to the Punjab Kings. Rohit Sharma led in 24 Test matches since taking charge in 2022, in which India won 12 and lost nine.
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