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Rohit Sharma has reportedly ‘made up his mind’ to retire after the Sydney Test if India don’t reach WTC Final.
Rohit Sharma has been struggling for runs in Australia.
Rohit Sharma has reportedly ‘made up his mind’ about Test retirement and is likely to hang his boots after the last Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney if India fail to make it to the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) Final.
According to The Times of India, rumors are floating around the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) top-brass and selectors about Rohit’s place in the team. The report said the skipper will try to convince the selectors to let him play in the WTC Final if India reach there. However, with the chances of that happening slim, Sydney is likely to be his ‘last dance’.
The report came immediately after India’s embarrassing 184-run loss at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the fourth Test. The loss meant India haven’t won any of the last six Tests under Rohit’s captaincy, seeing five losses and a draw.
India were whitewashed by New Zealand 0-3 at home — for the first time in the country’s Test history — and won the first BGT 2024-25 Test in Perth under vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah’s tutelage, before losing in Adelaide and Melbourne. The draw came in the second Test at the Gabba, when rain helped India draw despite being in a losing position.
Melbourne saw arguably the worst defeat of the series for the Mumbaikar. It was the flattest track yet and India still managed to keep Australia down to chaseable targets. And despite playing the longest batting lineup yet, with three all-rounders, India couldn’t find more than two players to cross double digits while chasing 340 in the final innings on Monday.
The loss also means that India now needs to win the Sydney Test and hope that Australia don’t win either of the two Tests in Sri Lanka that’ll follow this series, to qualify for the WTC final. Australia just need to win one of the three Tests to make it there.
The series has been personally difficult for Rohit, too. He managed just nine runs off 40 balls on Monday, which meant he was yet to cross 10 in the three Tests he has played. After five innings, he has 31 runs, just one more than Bumrah’s wickets in the series, 30.
