India Test captain Rohit Sharma on January 4 clarified that he hasn't retired from the longest format of the game. After the first session on Day 2 of the fifth Test at Sydney Cricket Ground, Rohit made it clear that he has neither opted out, dropped or rested. Rohit said that he told the selectors that he is struggling to score runs and decided to step down as captain for the final game of the series.
""It's not any of the three (laughs.) I stood down. I will say one thing and it will have 50 interpretations. I had a chat with the coach and the selector was very simple. I am not making runs at the moment. I am not in form and it's an important game. We need an in-form player. Our batting order isn't in form at the moment. So out of form players can't carry the team at the moment. So this was the simple thing in my mind. It was my understanding that I should tell the coach and the selector and they backed my call," Rohit told the broadcasters.
“Ye retirement decision nahi hai. Na mai hatne wala hu (This is not a retirement decision. I am not going anywhere),” the 37-year-old said.
In Rohit's absence, Jasprit Bumrah took over as captain. Rohit's name was missing from the squad sheet as well on January 3.
Rohit's numbers that led to the big decision
Rohit missed the Perth Test which India won under Bumrah's leadership as the veteran batter was on paternity leave. As KL Rahul shared a match-winning partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit chose to bat in the middle order and scored 19 runs from three innings. He was dismissed for single-digit scores in pink-ball Adelaide Test. At the Gabba, he scored 10 runs in first innings. In the MCG Test, he was unimpressive as well registering scores of 3 and 9. He has scored just 31 runs from five innings. In the ongoing 2024-25 season, he has managed to score just one half-century which came in Bengaluru against New Zealand.