Rohit Sharma announces retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect; to play one-day cricket

India captain Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect. The news came in after Rohit took to Instagram to make the announcement. The 38-year-old has already retired from T20Is following India's T20 World Cup win last year.

“Hello everyone, I would just like to share, I am retiring from Test cricket. It's been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites. Thank you for all love and support over the years. I will continue to represent India in ODI format,” Rohit wrote.

Rohit's last Test came in December last year during the fourth game in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Melbourne. He dropped himself from the fifth Test in Sydney owing to poor form.

Thus Rohit ends his Test career with 4301 runs from 116 innings, which included 12 centuries and 18 fifties. Earlier on the day, Indian Express reported that Rohit would be sacked as the Indian Test captain before the England tour.

Rohit Sharma's poor form in Tests

Rohit's lean patch with the bat started during India's home Test series against New Zealand and Bangladesh followed by a tour to Australia. Although India won the two Tests against Bangladesh, Rohit's men lost against New Zealand and Australia - losing six out of eight Tests.

Rohit Sharma's records as India Test captain

Having taken over the reins from Virat Kohli in 2022, Rohit led the national team in 24 Tests, winning 12 and losing nine. Under Rohit Sharma, India even qualified for the World Test Championship final in 2023, but lost to Australia in the summit clash.

Rohit was originally scheduled to make his Test debut in 2010 against South Africa in Nagpur. A freak injury delayed his Test debut for three more years when he finally played in the whites for the first time at Eden Gardens against West Indies. He made a hundred on Test debut.

Despite early success in Tests, Rohit's form in red-ball cricket dipped drastically until 2019 when he promoted as an opener against a visiting South African team. His highest score in Tests of 212 runs came in Ranchi against South Africa in 2019.