On 7 May, 2025, Rohit Sharma bowed out of the greatest format of the game

2025 has been a bag of mixed feelings for the Indian cricket fans. On one end, India won the ICC Champions Trophy, the Asia Cup, and the Women’s ODI World Cup. On the other end, two of India’s greats, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, bid goodbye to the Test format of the game, having already retired from T20I last year after winning the ICC T20 World Cup.

A sudden statement

It all started with Rohit Sharma, who made the shocking call ahead of the India versus England series in June. On May 7, a statement from Rohit Sharma hit social media that read, “Hello everyone, I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket. It's been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites. Thank you for all the love and support over the years. I will continue to represent India in the ODI format.”

(Credit- ESPNcricinfo)

The statement shocked most Indian cricket fans, but many knew it was coming, given the string of poor runs in Test matches played later in 2024 against Bangladesh, New Zealand and Australia.

String of poor performances

Against Bangladesh in September 2024, Sharma made only 42 runs across two games, followed by 91 runs in the three-match series against New Zealand. The final nail in the coffin was Sharma’s outing in Australia that saw him score merely 31 runs in three games. That was the series when India’s former captain must’ve realised his time was over in the format.

(Credit- Insidesport)

Five months later, without any Test action, Sharma thought it was in everybody’s best interest to move away from the format. His close friend and colleague, Virat Kohli, followed his lead, retiring from the Test format on May 12, 2025. Kohli’s retirement announcement was a bigger shocker given he was only 770 runs away from completing 10,000 Test runs, and yet, he chose to leave the field with Sharma.

Test stats

Sharma retired from the format with 4,301 runs scored in 67 matches at a strike rate of 57.05 and an average of 40.457. He scored 18 half-centuries and 12 centuries in the format, with a personal best of 212 runs.

The ‘Hitman’ also had a 50 per cent win percentage as India’s captain in the format, leading the team in 24 matches, which included 12 victories, nine defeats and three draws. During Sharma’s captaincy, India also finished third on the World Test Championship 2023-25 table.

(Credit- NDTV)

Sharma and Kohli’s retirements from the format have left a void that the current team, with new players, is struggling to fill, but hopefully, this phase too shall pass. However, India will never forget the duo of Ro-Ko in whites!