"I’m Not Retiring Anytime Soon": Rohit Sharma Addresses Retirement Rumours During IND vs AUS

India captain Rohit Sharma has decided to skip the Sydney Test and has recently stated that he does not intend to retire in the near future. The star batter has been ruled out of the game and was seen having a conversation with the team during the first session of the second day’s play with Jasprit Bumrah being the captain for the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

"I have not retired, just stepped down from this match," Rohit said during the lunch break of the ongoing Test," Rohit said

"I stood down [from the SCG Test]. I told the selectors and coach that runs were not coming from my bat, so I decided to step away. Runs are not coming now, but not guaranteed it'll not come five months later. I'll work hard,"Rohit added.

"People on the outside sitting with laptop, pen, and paper don’t decide when retirement will come and what decisions I need to take," Rohit concluded

Bumrah Praises Rohit's Leadership Decision

Rohit Sharma had a rough time in this series and Rohit Sharma personally has had a poor series making only 31 runs at an average of 6.2. Rohit Sharma was absent from the first Test match which was held in Perth and when he came back he performed poorly and his performance was 3, 6, 10, 3, and 9 respectively. Rohit Sharma’s decision to opt out of the fifth test was welcomed by the stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah. “Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game. That shows there's a lot of unity in this team. There's no selfishness. Whatever is in the team's best interest, we are looking to do that,” Bumrah commented during the toss in Sydney.

India has so far won the first Test match against Australia in Perth without the services of Rohit Sharma, however, India has lost two out of the next three matches. This has put Australia in a position where it has taken the lead in the five-match Test series. India needs to go for a win in the ongoing SCG Test to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Rohit has already announced his retirement from the T20 format of cricket after being the captain when India won the T20 World Cup 2024. Since then he has appeared in eight Test matches and has managed to score 164 runs at an average of 10. 93 including one half century.