Not retiring: Rohit Sharma confirms Test future after stepping down from SCG Test

India captain Rohit Sharma buried the speculations about his Test future in a candid interview with the broadcaster at the Lunch break on Day 2 of the Sydney Test match.

Sharma in a bare-all interview spoke in detail about what went into the dressing room in the lead-up to the New Year’s Test match, and also confirmed his plans for the near future.

In a stunning interview where he was praised for his honesty by former cricketer Irfan Pathan, Rohit confirmed that he was not going to retire from Test cricket. Rohit said that he decided to step down from the playing XI only for this match due to poor form, and had no plans to move away from the game.

Speculations were rife about Rohit’s future media reports claiming that all was not well in the Indian dressing room. The chatter about Rohit’s future became more prominent after Gautam Gambhir’s pre-match press conference where he refused to confirm Rohit’s availability in the Test match. Later, Rohit was dropped from the 16-member squad for the final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Sharma further attested that while there was no guarantee that he would be back among runs after 5 months when India travel to England but he was not ready to move away from the format just yet.

“This is not a decision of retirement. I am not moving away from this game. But I took a decision to step away from this game because I was not able to score runs with the bat. There is no guarantee that I will score runs 2 months or 5 months from now. I have seen a lot of cricket, every minute, every second and everyday life changes. I believe that things will change but at the same time, I have to be realistic as well. People sitting in the commentary box, or writing with a laptop in their hands, will not decide how my life goes,” Rohit Sharma said on Star Sports.

Sharma hit out at the critics, stating that he had played the game for a really long time and knew what he was doing. Sharma in his unique way, said that he was a father of two kids and had the ability to think on his own.

“I have played the game for so long, that they will not decide when I play, how I play, when I captain, or when I step down. I am a sensible person, a mature person, father of 2 kids, I have some brain, and I know what I want from my life,” he concluded.

I Stood Down: Rohit Sharma

In his passionate speech, Rohit also said that he was neither rested, nor dropped from the Test match. Rohit said that he took a decision to stand down and the decision was his own.

“It’s not any of the three (laughs.) I stood down. I will say one thing and it will have 50 interpretations. I had a chat with the coach and the selector was very simple. I am not making runs at the moment. I am not in form and it’s an important game. We need an in-form player. Our batting order isn’t in form at the moment. So out of form players can’t carry the team at the moment. So this was the simple thing in my mind. It was my understanding that I should tell the coach and the selector and they backed my call,” said Rohit.