India captain Rohit Sharma is likely to announce his Test retirement soon. It is also speculated that Rohit will be retiring just the way Sachin Tendulkar bid goodbye to international cricket.
Rohit Sharma is nearing the end of his illustrious cricket career. After speculations over the Champions Trophy 2025 final being his last ODI, there are reports about his Test retirement as well.
Watch: Rohit Sharma fumes as Varun Chakravarthy skips team huddle, delivers animated pep talk
Rohit Sharma’s Test retirement confirmed
According to PTI, Rohit Sharma can bring an end to his Test career during the two-match Test series against West Indies in October on home soil. Before that series, there is a five-match Test series in England which is an away series.
“In case he (Rohit) travels to that part of the world (England), he can look for his swansong at home during the two-Test series against West Indies,” the report claimed.
“Both series are part of next cycle of World Test Championship. However, for that, (Ajit) Agarkar’s committee and Rohit need to be convinced that he wants to play Test series against England,” it added.
The Test series against England will be played from mid-June to July end. Despite poor form in the last few red-ball matches, Rohit might play that series. It will be a big series that could decide his future in the format as well.
India’s next Test assignment will be against West Indies which is also expected to be Rohit’s last one in the red-ball format. One of these Tests could be in Mumbai to give Rohit a perfect farewell.
Rohit Sharma’s recent Test form
Rohit Sharma hasn’t been in great form in Test cricket over the last year. He endured a poor Test season at home last year. In five Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand, he scored just 133 runs at an average of just 13.30.
In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in Australia, his numbers took a record dip. He scored 31 runs in three Tests that he played during the series at a miserable average of 6.20.
Rohit’s form in Australia went so low that he was even forced to drop himself from the last Test in Sydney. In his absence, Jasprit Bumrah took over as the team’s captain.
Sachin Tendulkar’s memorable farewell
The legendary Sachin Tendulkar also played a two-match Test series against the same opposition in 2013 to bring an end to his magnificent Test career. He played his last Test match at his home ground in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
It was also the 200th Test of his career, thus marking an end to an incredible career. Tendulkar is also the only man in the world to reach the milestone of playing 200 Test matches.
Co-incidentally, Rohit had made his Test debut during the same series. Playing his first Test match at Kolkata, Rohit struck a magnificent 177 to help India win the match. In Tendulkar’s farewell Test, Rohit struck another hundred and scored a counter-attacking 111* off just 127 balls.
Tendulkar is one of the few legendary cricketers in Indian cricket who got such a grand farewell. It was somehow expected given his huge stature in world cricket.
