Former England captain Michael Atherton was not surprised to learn that Rohit Sharma has retired from Test cricket. Rohit informed about his retirement to the fans via an Instagram story while there were reports that he was asked to step down as captain.
Atherton said that in the end, he had to face the brunt of lack of runs and losing Test series against New Zealand and Australia which eventually led to India not making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final for the first time.
"Was that retirement completely his own decision, or did he get a sense that he's 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. 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," Atherton told Sky Sports.
Time was running out for Rohit?
Atherton said that time was ticking for Rohit who is now 38 years old. He feels that the statistics will not show the impact Rohit had in the longest format of the game.
"He's 38. There's a massive depth of talent in Indian cricket. So, given that level, that depth of talent and the competition, it means that you're not going to be so patient when form or results go against you. And so in that sense I didn't think it was that much of a surprise. But always sad when a Test career comes to end. He's been a significant cricketer. The record or statistics wouldn't suggest, of the very top rank in terms of Test cricket," said the 57-year-old.
Atherton says Rohit had a 'funny Test career'
Atherton also said that Rohit had a funny Test career as he was in the middle order when he made his debut and then made a comeback as an opener.
"I think people will look at him and his best format is ODI cricket. He's going to go down as one of the greatest ODI openers, isn't he? But a funny Test career. He had to wait for a long time to get in and then almost a career of two halves in Test cricket, averaging just a tick over 40 in the end with a dozen hundreds means it's a successful record, but not quite a stellar record," Atherton added.
As an opener, Rohit scored 2,697 runs from 38 Test at an average of 42.80, laced with nine centuries and half-centuries.