The year 2025 has two sides for both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli fans. They were happy to watch them together, as the Indian team won the Champions Trophy 2025. Also, both of the Indian batsmen were able to end the year in the top two of the ICC ODI Rankings. But this year also had a terrible time for them.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirements from the Test format in May 2025. First it was Rohit, and his retirement story was followed by Kohli’s post, ending an era for Indian fans in Tests. However, a former Indian cricketer thinks that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were forced to retire from Tests.
1. Uthappa on RoKo’s Test Retirement
of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Ever since their retirement, the Indian team has not been able to do well in the Test format. The major struggles have been in the batting line-up, which lacks experience to a great extent.
where he talked about the same. He said, “I don’t know if it was a forced surrender, but it definitely didn’t seem like a natural exit. What the truth is, they themselves will have to share in their own time. But I don’t think it was natural.”
He also said that Rohit Sharma must have taken a break in Test format to focus on his fitness. He said, “When Rohit was not scoring runs in Australia, I felt that he should take a break for six months and work on his fitness. I had no doubt in my mind that he would score runs.”
Currently, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been doing well in the ODI format, which makes
. He continued by saying, “In both Virat and Rohit, you can see that hunger back in their eyes, which is really cool. It’s endearing to see it from a veteran who’s been there, done that, and achieved so much in international cricket.”
2. What Led to RoKo’s Test Retirement?
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had a disaster in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25. Both of the players were unable to give their best to the team, despite being the most experienced batters. This even led to the Indian team losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in almost a decade.
, missed the first and last game. But in the three games he played, he was not able to make an impact. Rohit scored 35 runs in just 5 innings at an average of 6.20, which shows his form was missing. On the other hand, Virat Kohli had started off the series with a century in the first Test.
But the remaining games did not go well for Kohli too in the series. On all nine instances, he got out to the outside off stump delivery, giving his wicket at the slips. Kohli scored 190 runs in 5 tests at an average of 23.75 in this series. Following this, both of them announced their retirements from the Test format.
When everyone was busy in the Indian Premier League, the stars decided to make this shocking move. First, it was Rohit Sharma, who
. He posted an Instagram story which marked an end to his Test career.
And this was followed by the Test retirement of Virat Kohli. The modern-day Test legend posted on his Instagram with an emotional caption. The Indian fans were shocked to see their Test legends retire from the game after not being able to do well lately.
3. RoKo’s Test Legacy
While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retired from the Test format, fans still miss them. Rohit Sharma was a late bloomer in the longest format of the game. But Virat Kohli remained as India’s finest batsman across all conditions in the Test format, etching his name as one of the greatest in the modern era of the game.
Rohit Sharma in Tests:
- Innings: 116
- Not Out: 10
- Runs: 4301
- Average: 40.57
- Strike Rate: 57.05
- 100s: 12
- 50s: 18
Rohit Sharma had started off his Test career as a middle order batsman for the Indian team. But eventually, he got promoted as an opener of the team, and took this role at his best. This was also the reason why Rohit remained as India’s top run scorer in the World Test Championship, till he retired from the game.
Virat Kohli in Tests:
- Innings: 210
- Not Out: 13
- Runs: 9230
- Average: 46.85
- Strike Rate: 55.57
- 100s: 30
- 50s: 31
And for Virat Kohli, even the former cricketers such as Navjot Singh Sidhu miss his availability in the Test format. Kohli retired as India’s finest in red-ball cricket, as India reached new heights in the Test format under his captaincy. His aggression even led the Indian team to get some historic wins, till he stepped down from captaincy in early 2022.