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File image of Rohit Sharma.© BCCI/Sportzpics
Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket on social media, following reports that he wouldn't captain India in their upcoming five-match away Test series against England in June. It drew the curtains on a career of 67 Tests, out of which he led in 24, and even took India to a World Test Championship (WTC) final. Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has expressed his surprise at the fact that Rohit announced his retirement on social media, and is not going to get a farewell Test.
"If Rohit Sharma had retired not on social media but on the field after playing, it would have been a more fitting send-off. It would've felt better for all of us too," said Tiwary, speaking on Cricbuzz Live.
"Look at his record as a Test captain, it's very good. He's won 12 Tests, lost 9, and drawn 3. So there's no doubt about his success rate," Tiwary added.
Rohit's retirement comes after an abrupt decline in the longest form of the game in India's two-most recent series. Rohit suffered a big drop in form with the bat, which coincided with India being whitewashed 0-3 at home by New Zealand and beaten 1-3 in Australia under his leadership.
The fact that India's only Test win in Australia came under Jasprit Bumrah's leadership, in a match that Rohit did not play, possibly did not help matters.
However, Rohit does retire as India's second-most successful Test captain in terms of win percentage out of all captains who have led in 10 or more matches.
Tiwary also stated that Rohit appears to be a popular person among the youngsters in the dressing room.
He was a very popular leader among this group of boys. If you see, even the young players wanted to play under him. We always hear them say in their interviews, 'I really enjoyed playing under Rohit Sharma's captaincy'," Tiwary said.
Just a few months earlier, one of India's greatest Test bowlers, R Ashwin, announced his retirement without much pomp. Ashwin announced it in the middle of the Australia tour, having played just one match among the three games till then.
As Rohit steps aside, there will be debate regarding who assumes Test captaincy. Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah have prior leadership experience, but Shubman Gill is also likely to be considered given that he has age on his side, and has been appointed vice-captain in white-ball formats.
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