Indian stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their Test retirement in a space of just five days, leaving India’s batting with a big hole before the England tour. The two senior batters drew curtains on their illustrious careers at a time when India was getting ready for a challenging five-Test series in England. The retirements will definitely create a leadership vacuum, and a team very much requires experience, especially on tours like this.
Virat’s energy and Rohit’s composure will surely be missed. Reports suggest that their departures were influenced by tensions with head coach Gautam Gambhir, who is pushing for a younger, fresher squad for the upcoming World Test Championship cycle. Kohli, unhappy with Gambhir’s handling of senior players, reportedly decided to retire on his own terms.
With both legends stepping down, the focus now shifts to Shubman Gill, who is expected to lead the team in the future, under Gambhir’s new vision. The recent retirements definitely have shocked the cricketing world, but it doesn’t come as a complete surprise. Both Rohit and Virat had a poor outing in Australia, with India losing the series (1-3) that they could have drawn or even won.
That, coming on the heels of the crushing 0-3 whitewash at home to the unheralded New Zealanders, was a twin jolt to the Indian team as it meant they were out of reckoning for this year’s World Test Championship final at Lord’s, an event for which India qualified (and lost) on both the previous occasions – in 2021 and 2023. In both series, the two stalwarts failed, putting the batting under immense pressure.
In the 2024-25 series Down Under, Rohit missed the first Test at Perth while on paternity leave and then dropped himself for the final Test at Sydney due to a miserable run of form in the intervening three Tests. Kohli, for his part, scored a match-winning 100 in the Perth Test, but that was followed by a horror run.There was a time when Kohli was one of the finest along with Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Joe Root (England) and Steve Smith (Australia).
But his form had fallen drastically over the last couple of years, with just one century to show and his average slipping below the 50 mark. His struggle outside the off-stump, which was very much evident in Australia, would have been thoroughly exposed in England, where swing and movement play a crucial part.
On the other hand, Rohit was never in the same Test batting class as Kohli, though his strokeplay was a treat for everyone. The fact that both had announced their retirements from T20 Internationals last year means they will only be seen in India colours in ODIs from now on. Their priority, it would now appear, is the Indian Premier League.