India's victory in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 may have an impact on whether Rohit Sharma remains the Test captain for the five-match home series against England in June-July.
The right-handed opener had a tough time in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where his form declined quite a bit, eventually forcing him to miss the last Test in Sydney.
Rohit has regained his touch in white-ball cricket, though, leading India to their second ICC trophy in only eight months. The Men in Blue had an almost flawless run in the eight-team tournament, remaining unbeaten to win the title.
India's recent Test cricket record under Rohit, however, has been troubling. The team has lost six out of their last eight games, including a historic 0-3 home series defeat to New Zealand. This run of poor form also ensured that, for the first time in their history, India couldn't make it to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). Moreover, Rohit's batting performances in the longest format have been nothing to write home about.
In a bid to regain touch, Rohit even played for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy against Jammu and Kashmir. But his performance in domestic cricket did not meet his expectations.
In spite of all this, according to a report by PTI, Rohit is still India's Test captain as he stepped down willingly for the Sydney Test.
"Technically, Rohit is still the Test captain. He benched himself from the previous Test in Sydney, where he had justified that a team can't continue with two out-of-form batters," PTI quoted a BCCI source.
"India has not played any Test matches since the Australia series. So, there's been no shift in captaincy. And Rohit never said that he doesn't want to play Test cricket," the source added.
Final Decision Not Taken
Following the same PTI report, it is also understood that a final decision on Rohit's Test captaincy would be taken at a future time, where the opinion of the new head coach Gautam Gambhir will go a long way in arriving at the conclusion.
"The selection panel goes on a break during the IPL. Because all matches are live telecast, they do not necessarily have to move unless there is a particular player they need to observe closely," the source said.
"After the start of the IPL, things would get finalized for the England series. However, (coach) Gautam Gambhir's opinion will carry a lot of value in deciding the future course of Test captaincy," the source added.
Following his decision to sit out the last Test against Australia, Rohit made it clear that he has no plans to retire from the longest version of the game. Even after India's Champions Trophy triumph, he reaffirmed his dedication to ODI cricket and ended all retirement rumors.
"One thing more. I am not retiring from this format. Just to clear any rumours spread in the future. Thank you so much," Rohit said after winning the Champions Trophy.
Read also| IPL 2025: Virat Kohli Rejoins RCB Squad After Champions Trophy Triumph
Read also| Varun Chakaravarthy Reveals Post-T20 World Cup Threats: 'Told Not to Return to India'
