Former India Test captain Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from red-ball cricket, a few days before the squad for the five-match series against England was to be announced. Rohit underwent a poor Australian series, scoring just 31 runs in five innings.
Rohit Sharma’s Test career was on its last legs in Australia and five losses in six matches combined with his trecherous form in three games in played Down Under didn’t help as the former India Test captain decided to call it a day in red-ball cricket on Wednesday, May 7. The call was expected after the Border-Gavaskar series, but it has now come days before the Test squad is to be announced for the England tour and it seemed like Rohit wasn’t in the team management’s plan going into the next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
Former England captain Michael Atherton claimed that the call was expected because of the aforementioned reasons, but wondered whether the retirement call was completely his own or was pushed into deciding it, a couple of weeks before the squad was to be announced.
“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. So that’s speculation, we don’t know,” Atherton said on Sky Cricket Podcast.
“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,” Atherton told Nasser Hussain, another former England skipper on the Podcast.
Atherton further added that the selectors are getting impatient by the day with the non-performers, given the depth and problem of plenty in terms of players, who are ready and putting their hand up to be in the national side. It was more so with Rohit, who turned 38 just 10 days ago.
“He’s 38. There’s a massive depth of talent in Indian cricket. So, given that level, that depth of talent and the competition, it means that you’re not going to be so patient when form or results go against you. And so in that sense I didn’t think it was that much of a surprise. But always sad when a Test career comes to an end. He’s been a significant cricketer. The record or statistics wouldn’t suggest, of the very top rank in terms of Test cricket,” Atherton further added.
The reports suggested that Rohit may not be the only belated casualty from the atrocious Test season for India, which saw the two-time WTC finalists lose 0-3 to New Zealand at home and 1-3 to Australia Down Under in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Virat Kohli has apparently communicated his decision not to be part of the England series and R Ashwin, already retired while the series was underway.
