Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli shocked the cricketing fraternity by announcing their retirements from Test cricket before the England tour.
Rohit announced his Test retirement on May 7. Virat quit red-ball cricket on May 12. Both former India captains played Ranji Trophy after returning from Australia and looked set to travel to England for the five-match Test series. But they decided to quit.
Interestingly, Rohit had confirmed that he would continue to play Test cricket and lead the team. But he decided against going to England. Virat was just 770 runs short of the 10000-run mark and his retirement was a bigger surprise than Rohit’s.
Ajit Agarkar has broken his silence on their Test retirements and shared his take. Speaking to NDTV, the India chief selector said: “Both of them have been stalwarts of Indian cricket. They both approached. They felt it is a new WTC cycle, whatever people might think or not think. That’s the reality. Both were very aware. Perhaps, they may not have gone for those two years as Test players in the WTC cycle.”
Agarkar added that he “we have loved some experience” in England, but they have to respect a player’s decision. “England was a series where we would have loved some experience. The performance was incredible even though we didn’t win. We would have liked some experience. But, they had made their decisions. Once you have played for as long as they have and they are sure about their decision-to walk away from a particular format-you have got to respect that,” Agarkar added.
Rohit, who kicked off his Test career with back-to-back centuries against West Indies, finished his red-ball career with 4301 runs in 67 Tests. He hit 12 centuries and 18 fifties.
Virat, who made his Test debut in 2011, scored 9230 runs in 123 Tests. He finished his Test captaincy career as India’s most successful captain. India won 40 out of 68 Tests under him.