Rohit Sharma 'not retiring' or 'going anywhere'; India captain quashes speculations

Rohit Sharma is not retiring; neither is he quitting as India's captain. A day after his decision to skip the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Sydney rocked the cricket world, Rohit broke his silence on the matter by confirming that he was neither rested nor opting out… and definitely not dropped. Rohit said he would use the word "stood down" to describe his situation.

"I stood down, that is what I would say," Rohit told Star Sports during the Lunch break on Day 2 of the Sydney Test.

The Indian captain clearly explained why he decided not to play the fifth Test and how he informed head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar about his thought process.

'I was not scoring runs, we needed players in form': Rohit reveals why he dropped himself

"The chat that I had with coach and selectors was that I'm not scoring runs, we need players in form. Simple fact: you can't carry out-of-form players for too long. It was my duty to inform the coach and selector about my thoughts. They said, 'You've been playing for a long time, you take the call'. It was a difficult choice but for the team's sake it was the right decision to take the team forward. I took the decision after coming to Sydney. We just got two days, one was New Year's, didn't want to tell the selectors about this during the New Year. I tried a lot but nothing was happening so it was important for me to step aside," he said.

Rohit made the call after scoring 31 runs in five innings across three Tests.

Rohit, 37, a white-ball great, looked a pale shadow of his former self in those innings, struggling to execute even his bread-and-butter shots, including the trademark front-foot pull.

Since the highs of winning the T20 World Cup, Rohit's form, particularly in Test cricket, has nosedived. The veteran right-hander scored only 164 runs at an average of 10.9 in his last eight Tests. 2024 also turned out to be the worst year in Test cricket for Rohit, where his average dropped to 24.76.

Rohit, however, confirmed that he has no plans to retire from any format right now. And in fact, he is getting ready to make a comeback with the bat by scoring runs.

"The decision is not to retire. I'm not going to step aside (as captain). I have decided to step aside from this Test because I'm not scoring (enough runs). There is no guarantee that I won't score runs after two months or five months. I have seen things happen like this many times. But at the same time, I've also got to be realistic," he added.

When Star Sports presenter Jatin Sapru thanked him and gave him an emotional send-off for his selfless act, Rohit interrupted by saying, "I'm not going anywhere," and walked off, leaving Sapru and Irfan Pathan in splits.

Rohit enters SCG to chat with Bumrah

Rohit may have dropped himself from the series decider, but he continues to be a leader of the Indian side in every sense. Rohit entered the field during the drinks break of the morning session on Day 2 and had a lengthy chat with stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. This happened after Mohammed Siraj and Bumrah and had brought India right back in the Test match by picking up three wickets in the first hour of play on Saturday.

Rohit, wearing a reserve player's bib, entered the field and had a long, animated chat with Bumrah and Pant.