Mike Atherton: Rohit Sharma’s retirement saves India from awkward call but leaves hard choice

Battling for runs and results, Rohit Sharma has saved India’s selectors from a brutal call. But it’s left them with an equally tricky decision to make, writes Mike Atherton.

For a captain there is no more dangerous combination than losing matches and form, especially at 38 years old and in the final stages of a career.

India had lost five of their last six Tests under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy and runs had dried to a trickle, so the announcement of his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect comes as little surprise. India will be under new leadership for the forthcoming England tour.

The writing was on the wall in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) this winter.

Sharma missed the first of the Tests in Australia for the birth of his second child, but much more significant was his decision to drop himself for the finale in Sydney, after a poor run of form with the bat against Australia’s top-class pace attack when he made 31 runs in five innings. Nor had the runs flowed when his team were given a lesson in home conditions by New Zealand before that.

Rohit Sharma has called it a day on his Test cricket career. Picture: Martin Keep/AFP

In fact, since March of last year, when his form was strong in the home victory over England, Sharma had passed 30 just once in 15 Test innings. After the 3-0 defeat by New Zealand and the 3-1 defeat in the BGT, his position both as captain and as an opener was very vulnerable. Reports in India suggested the selectors were considering removing him for the England tour and his decision saves them from a tricky and potentially unpopular call, given his status in Indian cricket.

Like Virat Kohli, Sharma’s strongest format is ODIs, in which he will be recognised as one of the greatest openers, and in which he will continue to play. His record in Test cricket is successful, but not stellar. Having made his ODI debut in 2007, he had a lengthy wait of six years to break into the Test team, but he made his presence felt immediately, with hundreds in his first two Tests, against West Indies. Ten more hundreds followed in a career lasting 67 Tests, his final average of 40 placing him outside the very top rank.

Rohit Sharma’s average has plummeted over the past 12 months. Picture: David Gray/AFP

His captaincy could appear passive at times, especially in contrast to Kohli, his expressive predecessor, but the players enjoyed his straightforward and relaxed manner and his ability to maintain his equilibrium in the febrile world of Indian cricket, where an international player’s every move and word is scrutinised endlessly. Having taken over from Kohli, he provided calmness and stability and it is not immediately clear to whom India will turn as a substitute.

Jasprit Bumrah is the team’s vice-captain and led noticeably well in Sharma’s absence in Australia. Pat Cummins has shown that there should be no bar to fast bowlers stepping into a leading role, but the question mark against Bumrah is not so much his ability to do the job, rather the physical challenge. The tour of England includes five Tests, for example, in just six weeks and, coming back from a serious injury, it may be too much to expect Bumrah to play in them all.

Jasprit Bumrah could be India’s next Test captain but it will ask alot of a man already battling injury. Picture: Tom Parrish

Reports from India suggest that Shubman Gill, the highly regarded opener, is a leading candidate, as the selectors look to build through a new World Test Championship cycle. Gill leads Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League and at 25 years old has played 32 Tests with mixed success.

Significantly, he has yet to succeed in England, having played three Tests here, with a top score of 28, and leading on the forthcoming tour would represent a big challenge for him. Whoever takes over will form a partnership with Gautam Gambhir, an abrasive character who has yet to enjoy success in Tests as India’s coach.

Originally published as Mike Atherton: Rohit Sharma’s retirement saves India from awkward call but leaves hard choice