Rohit Sharma retires: Who will become India's next Test captain?

Indian captain Rohit Sharma, 38, on Wednesday announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect. Having already retired from T20Is after last year's World Cup, India's "Hitman" will now only be playing ODIs at the international level.

 

"Hello everyone, I would just like to share that I 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," he posted on Instagram with a picture of his Test cap.

 

Team India will now have a new Test captain for the five-Test series in England with possible candidates being Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.

 

 

 

 

Rohit Sharma has scored 4,301 runs in 67 Tests for India with 12 hundreds and 18 half centuries to his credit. The Mumbai right-hander, who debuted against West Indies at the Eden Gardens in 2013, boasts an average of 40.57. After he became India's opener in Tests in 2019, he managed three quick hundreds in the first series in the role itself and even converted one of them into a double century.

 

 

 

 

Rohit captained India to the World Test Championship final against Australia. Recently, the senior star endured a particularly difficult run during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where he had to drop himself from the playing XI owing to poor form but he had ruled out retirement at that stage.

 

There was also widespread speculation about his differences with Head Coach Gautam Gambhir, who had vowed to end the "star culture" in Indian cricket after taking charge last year in July.

 

Both steadfastly denied the chatter but Gambhir has time and again made it clear that only performance would ensure selection in the team.

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