'Have not retired; not going anywhere': Rohit Sharma clarifies after opting out of Sydney Test

Amid widespread specualtion that he will be retiring from Tests, India skipper and senior batter Rohit Sharma, on Saturday, clarified that he "stood down" from the ongoing Sydney Test against Australia because of poor form. He categorically denied he is retiring from any format of the game.

"I have not retired. I stood down, that is what I would say,” Sharma told Star Sports. “Basically, the chat that I had with the coach and the selectors was very simple. That I am not able to score runs, there is no form, it is an important match and we need a player with form. As it is, in our batting, the form of the boys is not that good. So, you cannot carry a lot of out-of-form players in the team. This simple thing was going on in my mind,” he reasoned.

"That is why I wanted to tell the coach and the selector that this is what is going on in my mind. They backed my decision. They said that you have been playing for so many years. You know what you are doing. So, for me, it was difficult to take this decision. But if everything is kept in front, then this decision was sensible. I will not think much further," Sharma added.

“I am not going anywhere.”

"I have seen a lot in cricket that life changes every second, every minute, every day. I have confidence in me that things can change, but at the same time I have to be realistic as well,” Sharma said.

"So, life won't change by what people with a mic, pen or laptop write or say. They can't decide when we should retire, when we should sit out, when we should captain. I am a sensible man, mature man, father of two kids. So, I know what I need in life."

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After missing the opening Test in Perth due to the birth of his second child, Sharma returned to the team and tried to bat in the middle order, before going out to open the innings, but in vain. His scores read 3, 6, 10, 3 and 9 in the three Tests that followed.

His captaincy, too, came under fire, with former cricketers calling him a “reactive” skipper rather than a proactive one, for not seizing moments in the games. His field settings and bowling changes, too, were criticised.

In Test cricket in 2024, Sharma scored just 619 runs in 26 innings across 14 matches averaging 24.76.

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Sharma's revelation came after ex-cricketers like Ricky Ponting and Navjot Singh Sidhu had cast doubts about the skipper “opting out” of the Sydney Test. While the Australian great said that though Sharma's absence was expected due to his woeful form, he was "surprised" by the Indian team's wording. Sidhu, on the other hand, said that Sharma's decision was "bizarre" as it sends the wrong signal.

In Sharma's absence, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is leading the team, while Shubman Gill was included in the playing XI for the crucial fifth and final Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, which India are trailing 1-2. India won the first match in Perth under Bumrah.