Michael Atherton says Rohit Sharma’s Test retirement was not a surprise

Former England captain Michael Atherton said that Rohit Sharma’s retirement from Test cricket did not surprise him. He thinks the decision came because Rohit was not scoring runs and India was losing matches.

Rohit announced his retirement on Instagram on May 7. This happened just before India’s Test team for the England tour was picked.

Many people wondered if Rohit chose to retire or if the selectors wanted to drop him. Atherton spoke about this on Sky Sports.

“Was that retirement completely his own decision, or did he get a sense that he’s about to be pushed, or the axe was coming because there was a report, the day before the announcement from Rohit, that the selectors had decided to move on.

So that’s speculation, we don’t know, but ultimately the decision didn’t come as a surprise because it’s a bad combination for any captain, as you know, and as I know well if you’re losing games, and you ain’t getting any runs, and India had lost 5 out of the last 6 matches under Rohit’s captaincy. Three against New Zealand and a couple in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and his form had really tailed off and of course, that’s a bad combination for any captain.”

India did not do well in recent Test matches

India lost three home Tests to New Zealand and then lost a series in Australia 1-3. These losses meant that India missed the World Test Championship Final. Rohit scored only 31 runs in three matches in Australia. He didn’t play the last Test in Sydney and said he wasn’t helping the team enough.

Atherton said that Rohit’s age and the strong competition in Indian cricket also played a role in the retirement.

“He’s 38. There’s a massive depth of talent in Indian cricket. So, given that level, that depth of talent and the competition, it means that you’re not going to be so patient when form or results go against you.

And so in that sense I didn’t think it was that much of a surprise. But always sad when a Test career comes to end. He’s been a significant cricketer. The record or statistics wouldn’t suggest, of the very top rank in terms of Test cricket.”

Atherton praised Rohit’s ODI career

Atherton also spoke about how good Rohit is in one-day cricket (ODIs). He called his Test career “funny” because it started late and had two different phases.

“I think people will look at him, and his best format is ODI cricket. He’s going to go down as one of the greatest ODI openers, isn’t he? But a funny Test career. He had to wait for a long time to get in and then almost a career of two halves in Test cricket, averaging just a tick over 40 in the end with a dozen hundreds means it’s a successful record, but not quite a stellar record.”

Now, with Rohit’s Test career over, fans are waiting to see who will be India’s next Test captain.

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