Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – the two stalwarts of Indian cricket. No one expected them to call it quits in the longest format of the game before a last hurrah in England. Yes, the runs were hard to come by for both batters, who won Tests for India on numerous occasions, but one expected the senior pros to make one last trip to England to try and win a series and be a part of history. India have not won a series in the UK since 2007, and both Virat and Rohit came agonisingly close in 2021-2022, but the rescheduled Test ended in defeat for India at Edgbaston.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally broke its silence on Tuesday regarding whether the body forced Rohit and Kohli to retire from Tests. BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla ended the rumours once and for all, saying the decision to retire is a player’s own and no one in the cricket body can force him to make this decision.
Rohit Sharma was the first one to retire from Tests. He posted a casual Instagram Story about calling it quits in the longest format. The right-handed batter, who turned 38 in April this year, represented India in 67 Tests, scoring 4301 runs at an average of 40.57.
Rohit endured a hard time in the home series against New Zealand and the away series against Australia. The run was so torrid that Rohit himself decided to stand down from the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia in Sydney.
Shukla denied all these claims, confirming that the senior batters will remain available for ODIs.
“I want to make it very clear once and for all. We are all feeling the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The decision to retire was made by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on their own. It is the policy of BCCI that we never tell any player to retire. It was their call,” Shukla said.
“They have taken retirement on their own. We will always them. We will always consider them as legendary batters. It’s very good for us that both of them are available for ODIs,” he added.
