Rohit Sharma has officially stepped away from Test cricket. The 36-year-old announced his retirement just weeks before India’s upcoming five-Test series in England. This leaves the selectors with an urgent captaincy decision to make.
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Sharma confirmed that while his red-ball journey ends here, he will continue playing ODIs for India. The decision didn’t come as a complete surprise.
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The veteran Indian batter had a poor run with the bat in recent Tests. He averaged just 10.93 in Australia and has struggled for runs even in a Ranji Trophy appearance earlier this year.
Though he led India to the Champions Trophy title in March, he seemingly knew that his Test spot was not guaranteed anymore.
How does Rohit Sharma rank among India’s Test captains?
In terms of numbers, Rohit leaves with a respectable Test captaincy record -- 12 wins, 9 losses and 3 draws in 24 matches. This gives him a win percentage of 50%.
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That places him among India’s best captains of all time by pure numbers -- though still a step below the great Virat Kohli. Here is how Rohit Sharma compares with other Indian Test captains (min. 20 matches):
| Player | Matches | Won | Lost | Draw | % Win |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 68 | 40 | 17 | 11 | 58.82 |
| Rohit Sharma | 24 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 50.00 |
| MS Dhoni | 60 | 27 | 18 | 15 | 45.00 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 49 | 21 | 13 | 15 | 42.85 |
| Rahul Dravid | 25 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 32.00 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin | 47 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 29.78 |
| Bishan Bedi | 22 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 27.27 |
| M.A.K. Pataudi | 40 | 9 | 19 | 12 | 22.50 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 47 | 9 | 8 | 30 | 19.14 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 25 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 16.00 |
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Who will captain India next?
With Rohit gone, all eyes now turn to the selectors. Jasprit Bumrah captained in his absence during the Australia tour and he is also the vice-captain currently.
But given his workload and recent back injury, promoting him to full-time captaincy may not be straightforward. India’s next red-ball captain will need to be named soon -- with the first Test at Headingley starting June 20.