He scored just 122 runs in his last six Test matches.
Former England captain Michael Atherton has raised questions over the sudden Test retirement call of India captain Rohit Sharma. He has expressed his doubts about whether the decision was solely taken by Rohit or if it was a forced move.
“Was that retirement completely his own decision? Or did he get a sense that he was 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,” he stated to Sky Sports.
The former England batter also stated that it is just a “speculation”. However, he also supported Rohit’s move of calling it a day in the red-ball format, as he was enduring a rough patch both as a player and as a captain. In the previous two Test series, at home against New Zealand and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Series in Australia, India lost five out of six (one was a draw) matches under his leadership.
“So that’s speculation, we don’t know, 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,” he added.
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Subsequently, India failed to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final for the first time in three cycles. Moreover, Rohit had scored just 122 runs in the last six matches of his Test career.
The 38-year-old has given his all while donning the whites for Team India. After making his debut against the West Indies in November 2013, his red-ball career mostly peaked in the second half. He has scored 4,301 runs in 67 matches at an average of 40.6.
With 88 sixes, Rohit is the second-highest six-hitter in Tests for India. He is only behind former India batter Virender Sehwag, who hit 91 in 104 matches.
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