Rohit Sharma’s retirement ‘Tests’ BCCI’s game plan for senior cricketers

Rohit Sharma’s statement last week informing about his decision to retire from Test cricket, when Indian Premier League (IPL) is in progress follows the present trend where players announce their retirement from the game in stages.

In the past, such announcements used to take place at the end of a season or series and involved the concerned player telling the public that he was leaving all formats of competitive cricket, at all levels. After limited overs’ cricket gained in popularity players began the practice of leaving the game in stages, format wise. Since the advent of Indian Premier League (IPL), cricketers have made it a point to continue playing in the championship so long as the franchisees cough up the money to retain their services or till their body announces that it is unwilling to respond to the commands of the mind. Rohit had bid adieu to the world of T20 Internationals after the final of the International Cricket Council World Cup last June. He has however, made it clear that he will be available to play for the country in One Day Internationals (ODI).

It is reasonably learnt that the reason behind Rohit’s retirement from the longest version of the game was the decision of selectors to replace him as the captain of the national side in this format. Rohit had a run of low scores with the bat in Test matches at home during the 2024-25 season, with only one half century to his credit in the series’ against Bangladesh and New Zealand. His output with the willow fell to even lower levels during the tour to Australia that followed, so much so that he decided to drop himself from the playing eleven for the final Test at Sydney. Further, the arrival of Yashasvi Jaiswal and the rapid strides he made as an opening batsman during the last couple of years made Rohit’s position at the top of the order untenable. Moreover, at 38 years, Rohit is not getting any younger and it is high time another player started getting groomed for taking over as captain of the side.

All these factors must have weighed in the minds of selectors when they made up their mind to remove Rohit from the post of captain. Rohit was a successful captain of the national side and had led the team capably in all three versions of the game. So it would not have been an easy decision for the selectors to show him the door. With the benefit of hindsight, it could be stated that Rohit should have taken some time off for introspection and self assessment as to where he stood as an opening batsman in Test cricket after the tour to Australia. Had he done this, he could have avoided the embarrassment of being forced to take this call at this juncture.

This brings one to the issue of Rohit’s intention to continue playing in ODI’s. There is no doubt that, at his peak, Rohit was one of the most destructive batsmen in white ball cricket. Though his skillsets have dropped down by a notch or two in recent years, he still commands a place in the national squad in ODIs. But the flip side is that India plays very few ODIs presently and the next major limited overs’ tournament that the national side is slotted to play is the ICC World Cup, scheduled to be held at South Africa in November 2027, by which time Rohit will be past 40 years of age. Further, as per the present calendar of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), India is scheduled to play only very few ODIs during the next couple of years. It is difficult to envisage selectors retaining him as captain in this format alone and giving him the opportunity to lead the national side in this extremely demanding and crucial tournament. Hence, there exists a strong case for grooming a successor to Rohit in this format of the game as well. It will be ideal if this process also starts during the current year so that the incumbent will have two years experience in the job before the World Cup.

So, the question that emerges here is whether the decision of Rohit to continue playing ODIs will go against the interests of the national side in their preparation for the 2027 ICC World Cup. The answer to this needs to be given by the selectors. If Rohit is not part of the plans of the selection committee for the next World Cup, then this decision should be conveyed to him at the earliest so that he can firm up his retirement plans accordingly. Rohit’s contributions towards Indian cricket are immense and he deserves a farewell that matches his stature.

At this juncture one must also point out that BCCI needs to share a portion of the blame for the confusion created regarding the Test career of Rohit. A look at the list of four players chosen for the highest level (A plus) centralised contract of BCCI reveals that only one of them - Jasprit Bumrah- will be available to play in all formats of the game in the coming season, since the remaining three - Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja - have already retired from T20 Internationals. The placing of Rohit in A plus category gave the impression that he was likely to play Test cricket for the entire season as it appeared a bit of an overkill to retain him in this group solely for playing a few ODIs.

Australia follows the practice of selectors having a free and frank discussion with senior players entering the twilight of their career before the start of each cricket season. This helps the selectors to know the plans of the concerned cricketer and the approximate time frame he has placed for himself for quitting the game. The player concerned also gets to understand the thoughts of the selectors about his place in the national side. This system provides the selectors with the opportunity to inform a senior cricketer that he should be mentally prepared to lose his place in the side if does not announce his retirement at the end of the season in case they feel that the player concerned is nearing the end of his career and some youngsters are knocking on the doors. This will help to groom up and coming players and blood them into international arena while also avoiding the resentment that the seniors tend to feel if they believe they are being treated unfairly. It is high time BCCI took the lead to set up a similar system in a formal manner in India also.

In the final analysis, Rohit Sharma will be remembered as a shrewd leader of men, under whose stewardship India won 12 out of 24 Test matches it played, while losing nine. India also reached the finals of the World Test Championship in the 2021-23 cycle, where we lost to Australia. However, as a batsman, he took his time to find his groove in the rarefied world of Test cricket and started scoring runs freely only after moving to the top of the order. Though his first five years in Test cricket yielded average returns, he made amends in the latter half by scoring runs more consistently when he chose to take strike against the new ball. But, in the final analysis, he gave the impression that he could not do full justice to the humongous talent he was blessed with while playing the longest version of the game. Except on a couple of occasions, he appeared ill at ease while playing on bowler friendly wickets abroad and was more comfortable tackling bowlers on the pitches at home. The fact that 10 out of the 12 centuries he scored in Test matches came on pitches inside India reveals how much he loved batting in home conditions. A tally of 4,302 runs from 67 Tests at an average of 40.57, stands in sharp contrast to the 15,399 runs he scored in limited overs’ cricket and highlights not only his proficiency with the willow in white ball cricket but his struggles with the red cherry in Test matches.

When one analyses the career of Rohit Gurunath Sharma in Test cricket, the following quotation comes to mind: “Not every spark becomes a blaze, but even a steady flame gives light and warmth.”

Well played, Rohit! You had the potential to generate a blaze, but you chose to bring happiness to millions of followers of the game by providing light and warmth.