Indian captain Rohit Sharma announces retirement from Test cricket

Rohit’s retirement comes prior to India’s tour of England, where they are scheduled to play five Tests. The selection of the squad is going to happen soon, and will now feature a new captain. In his last as a Test captain in Australia, Rohit sat out the last fixture in the wake of his ropey form. India lost the series 3-1, with the Boxing Day Test at MCG at the end of 2024 proving Rohit’s eventual.

Rohit was slated to make his Test debut in 2010 against South Africa in Nagpur before a freak injury moments before the toss robbed him of the special occasion. It took him another three years before he was picked to play the Kolkata Test of 2013 against West Indies, and he made sure the wait was worth it, scoring a century. He breached the three-figure mark again in the next Test in Mumbai.

That, unfortunately, proved to be a flash of brilliance as Rohit then struggled for five years in the format, with his only century in this period coming in the Nagpur Test of 2017 against Sri Lanka. His red-ball fortunes turned in 2019 when he was promoted up the order to open the batting against South Africa in 2019, a three-match joust in which Rohit slammed two hundreds, including his only double hundred in the format – an imperious 212 in Ranchi.

A switch had flicked for Rohit the Test batter. He shone brightly against England in 2021, composing 161 on a raging turner in Chennai and another match-defining 127 in India’s triumph at The Oval. He excelled against the same opponent in 2024 as he led an inexperienced team to a come-from-behind 4-1 series win. Although having averaged a tick over 45 at the start of the 2024-25 season, he lost form, managing a single 50+ score in 15 innings.

His captaincy record took a massive beating through the season as India were blanked 0-3 by New Zealand, the first time India lost a home series in 12 years. In all, under his leadership, India have finished with a 12-9 win-loss record.