Rohit Sharma wanted to play against England and retire mid-series: Report

Rohit Sharma wanted to play against England and retire mid-series: Report. (Source:BCCI)

The legendary retired from Test cricket on May 7. A new report has revealed that the 38-year-old had planned to retire in the middle of India's five-match Test tour of England, starting on June 20.

Rohit played 67 Tests and scored 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57. He had been leading the Indian team in all formats since February 2022. However, the right-handed batter stepped away from T20I cricket last year, with Suryakumar Yadav taking charge. Now, the Mumbai batter will continue to lead India only in the ODI format.

According to Sky Sports, a source told that Rohit planned to retire mid-way through the England tour, much like how MS Dhoni stepped away from the Test format, handing captaincy to Virat Kohli. However, the selectors wanted consistency in terms of leadership for the England tour and informed Rohit that he can be a part of the squad but won't be the captain. This prompted the experienced batter to draw curtains on his red-ball career with immediate effect. Five days later, Kohli followed his long-time friend into Test retirement.

Indian selectors undecided about Test captaincy after Gill, Pant talks

The selectors haven't been able to come to a unanimous decision regarding Rohit's successor as captain in the Test team. While Shubman Gill, , and Jasprit Bumrah were initially in contention, reports claimed that the latter ruled himself out after being unable to assure his participation in all five Tests in the United Kingdom.

The same report adds that one of the selectors has reservations about awarding Gill the captaincy as he is yet to live up to his expectations and cement his spot in the Test team. It was suggested that being the vice-captain would be more beneficial for the 25-year-old top-order batter at this point. 

Shubman has played 32 Tests, scoring 1,893 runs at an average of 35.05. His Test average away from home is a modest 27.53. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant has 2,948 runs from 43 Tests at an average of 42.11, including centuries in Australia, England, and South Africa.