India cricket team captain Rohit Sharma has made the sudden retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect but will still be available for One-Day Internationals (ODIs). This will force India to find a new captain for their five-Test series against England, which begins on June 20.
Rohit declared it on Instagram, clutching his Test cap No. 280 in a Wednesday night story. He penned, "Hello all, I just wanted to make a statement that I am going to retire from Test cricket. It's been an absolute privilege to play for my country in whites. Thanks for all the love and affection all these years. I will keep representing India in the ODI format."
Rohit's action comes in the wake of a poor run in Australia Border-Gavaskar Trophy series when India lost 3-1. Even the opener wasn't impressive, scoring a modest 6.20 in five innings and missing the last Test at Sydney Cricket Ground too. His batting during India's 3-0 whitewash of New Zealand earlier also left much to be desired, with an average of a modest 15.16.
The transition into retirement was reportedly part of a master plan to develop a future Test team ahead of the next cycle of the new World Test Championship (WTC) from the England tour. "This had been planned for a while, though he'd hinted at a TV interview during the Sydney Test that he wouldn't be retiring for some time to come. So, as such, the writing was on the wall," a source close to the situation divulged. Because of this, selecting the Test team for the tour of England has now been pushed back by two weeks.
Rohit's Test career started with a bang, making a century on his debut against West Indies at Kolkata in 2013. In 67 Tests, he had scored 4,301 runs at 40.57, including 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries. He had led India in 24 Test matches, of which he won 12 and lost nine.
As of June 2024, Rohit had already retired from T20 internationals after becoming the captain himself after he led India to defeat South Africa in the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup match. Having thought about retiring from Test cricket, vice-captain in the white-ball formats in Shubman Gill would be the one to whom the onus of becoming Test captain would be transferred. As Jasprit Bumrah will not be available for the whole five-match England series, 25-year-old Gill, now Gujarat Titans' captain in the IPL and Gujarat Titans' leading the points table, will carry the baton. The Ajit Agarkar-headed selection panel is also eager to infuse new energy into the team for the future.
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