Rohit Sharma's Test retirement in middle of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 left everyone shocked. With just little over month time to the start of the highly anticipated Test series between India and England, Rohit Sharma made a massive announcement on his future in the longest format of the game. The veteran batter took to the Instagram to share this major decision. Rohit, who had previously stepped away from T20Is after leading India to World Cup 2025 title triumph, not just announced his retirement from Tests, but also provided clarity on his future in One Day Internationals.
Rohit Sharma to continue to play ODIs after Test retirement
In his announcement, Rohit Sharma confirmed that he will continue to play ODI format. As it stands, ODI is now the sole format of international cricket in which Rohit Sharma remains an active player for Team India.
"Hello everyone I would just like to share that l am retiring from Test cricket. It's been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites. Thank you for all the love and support over the years. I will continue to represent India in the ODI format," Rohit's Instagram story read.
Rohit Sharma's Test career kicked off in 2013 when he made his debut against the West Indies. Rohit enjoyed a dream debut as he cracked centuries in both of his initial Test matches. However, he struggled to maintain this stellar form and subsequently found himself moving in and out of the Test team until the year 2019.
Following a surprising omission from the squad for the England tour in 2018, Rohit made a comeback to the Test side towards the end of that year for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Despite an impressive performance in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, where he smashed five centuries, Rohit was once again surprisingly benched for the subsequent two-match Test series against the West Indies.
But then came a massive turning point in Rohit's Test career, when India hosted South Africa in October 2019. In the same series Rohit was promoted as an opener. From that point onwards, his Test career saw a consistent upward trajectory. His success with the bat eventually led to him succeeding Virat Kohli as the captain of the Test team in early 2022. Under Rohit's captaincy, the Indian Test team initially enjoyed considerable success. However, series defeats against New Zealand at home and Australia raised questions regarding his leadership. Notably, Rohit opted out of fifty Test owing to his continuous batting struggles, which saw Jasprit Bumrah taking the captaincy mantle. Bumrah appears to be the leading candidate to permanently replace Rohit as the Test captain, having served as his deputy since 2022. Even in the upcoming five-match Test series against England, Bumrah can be seen leading India's pack.