Senior India batter Rohit Sharma on Saturday (January 4, 2025) firmly dismissed his retirement rumours, saying he is “not going anywhere” and offered poor form as the reason for him “standing down” from the ongoing Sydney Test against Australia.

Grappling with modest form, Rohit “opted to rest” from the Sydney Test, handing over the leadership duties to Jasprit Bumrah, sparking widespread speculations about his future.

“I have not retired. I stood down, that is what I would say. Basically the chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple. I am not able to score runs, there is no form, it is an important match and we need a player with form,” Rohit told Star Sports.

“As it is, in our batting, the form of the boys is not that good. So you cannot carry a lot of out of form players in the team. This simple thing was going on in my mind. I am not going anywhere,” he added.

The 37-year-old said the team management and selectors backed his decision.

“I wanted to tell the coach and the selector that this is what is going on in my mind. They backed my decision. They said that you have been playing for so many years. You know what you are doing.

“So for me, it was difficult to take this decision. But if everything is kept in front, then this decision was sensible. I will not think much further,” he added.

In Rohit’s absence, Shubman Gill was included in the India eleven for the crucial fifth match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as India is trailing 1-2.

The Mumbaikar endured a tough time in Test cricket in 2024, accumulating just 619 runs in 26 innings across 14 matches averaging 24.76.

Before standing down, he had scored just 31 runs across five innings in three Tests in this series after joining the team following the Perth Test.

Rohit’s bold call triggered speculations that he might pull the plug on his Test career after this series.

“This is not a retirement decision. I am not going to leave the game. There is no such decision. But I am out of this game because the bat is not working.

“But there is no guarantee that the bat will not work after 5 months. There is no guarantee that the bat will not work after two months or six months down the line,” Rohit said.

He hoped for a turnaround in his fortunes sooner than later.

“We have seen a lot in cricket. Every minute, every second, every day life changes. So, I have a belief that things will change.

“But, at the same time, I have to be realistic as well. So, if a person has a mic inside, or a laptop, or a pen, what he writes, what he says, it does not change our life. We have played this game for so many years.

“So, these people cannot decide when we should go or when we should not play. I am a sensible man. I am a mature man. I am the father of two children. So, I have a little brain to decide what I want in life,” he noted.

Asked if he took this decision after the Melbourne Test defeat, Rohit said: “No, I took this decision after coming to Sydney. Because after the match, we had only two days in between. And one day was New Year’s eve. So on New Year’s, I did not want to tell this to the coach and the selector.

“But it was running in my mind that I am trying and trying. But it is not happening. So I have to accept that it is not happening. And it was important for me to step aside.

“Whenever I am captaining, I don’t believe in what is going to happen after 5 months or 6 months. What do you want in the immediate future, it is important to focus on this thing.

“Our entire focus was on these 5 matches. We had to retain the trophy, we had to win. So, when we take such decisions, we do it keeping the team in front of us,” he added.

Rohit also heaped praise on Bumrah saying he has been impressed by the latter’s leadership qualities.

“The way he (Bumrah) sets standards with the ball, he is absolute class. When I saw him for the first time in 2013, his graph has gone really high ever since and has gone from strength to strength,” he said.

Rohit Sharma. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Finally there was closure to the question around Rohit Sharma. The ‘will he play or won’t he play’ question was emphatically answered when Jasprit Bumrah strode out to the toss ahead of the fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday (January 3, 2025). As if to drive home the point, the BCCI’s note on the playing eleven and the entire squad did not have Rohit’s name.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Bumrah said: “Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game. That shows there is a lot of unity in this team.” Until Bumrah spoke, there was no official word on the manner of Rohit’s exit and the entire issue reveals a shocking lack of grace and transparency.

While speaking to the media on Thursday, coach Gautam Gambhir evaded a direct reply to the question around Rohit’s spot in the playing eleven. It set the field ripe for speculations and conspiracy theories. Entirely needless ahead of a vital clash of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Having made a smashing Test debut against the West Indies at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in 2013 with a sparkling 177, Rohit played 67 Tests, scored 4301 runs with an average of 40.57 and with 12 hundreds to boot. His last innings was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 30, last year. The then Indian captain scored nine from 40 deliveries and succumbed to his rival counterpart Pat Cummins.

Always a bigger player in the blue shade, perhaps Rohit will get one last tango in limited overs cricket in the ICC Champions Trophy at Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 to March 9. India will play all its games in the United Arab Emirates. And that might well be Rohit’s final act in international cricket.