Rohit Sharma's retirement takes a sharp turn as Indian Team Manager in Australia opens a new can of worms

In a surprising revelation, India’s former team manager Jaydev Shah revealed that Rohit Sharma was not forced by the BCCI to retire from Test cricket, but it was his own call. There were rumors that the BCCI and the Indian selectors forced Rohit Sharma to step down after he was dropped for the fifth Test in Sydney during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

However, they were just speculations, as confirmed by the team manager during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, as the BCCI only wanted to plan for the future. Shah admitted that the turning point of his Test career came when Rohit was “dropped” from the Sydney Test.

Rohit Sharma's Test retirement wasn’t BCCI’s decision!!

The former team manager mentioned that Rohit had just returned to the team after becoming a father and was going through a rough patch with the bat. He couldn’t score runs like before, and that led to him being dropped from the final Test on the Australia tour.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

Read Also: Shreyas Iyer's Test Cricket comeback initiated

But soon after, Rohit Sharma guided India to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, proving he still had plenty to offer in white-ball cricket. With a new ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle starting, the BCCI wanted to give younger players more chances. Rohit also felt it was the right time to step back from Test cricket and focus more on white-ball cricket.

Rohit Sharma wanted to give another cricketer a chance: Jaydev Shah

Shah claimed that it was a joint understanding, as Rohit wanted to help the team move forward and made the call by himself. But he took a few months to take a call on his Test career, announcing his retirement in May 2025, and that was followed by Virat Kohli too.

Jaydev Shah said on the Voices of Impact with Arjun Mirani podcast, “He had a baby, he came back, and he couldn’t make runs. Okay, he was out of form. He was dropped from the last test, but then he won the Champions Trophy.

I think he thought it was time for him to play white ball more than red ball and give another cricketer a chance. I think the board was looking at things like, We have to prepare our team for the next championship. That’s a two-year cycle, so it’s better if new players get set and get there.”

Read Also: "Yuzvendra Chahal wanted to commit suicide"- Shockwaves sent on Dhanashree Verma

Injuries and future plans forced Rohit Sharma to retire from Test cricket

He further revealed that Rohit Sharma had been dealing with injuries and even missed a few IPL 2025 games for the Mumbai Indians. Looking at his fitness and the challenges ahead, Rohit Sharma felt it was the right time to step aside, and Shah said that such tough calls are made by strong leaders like the Hitman himself.

Shah signed off by saying, “And it didn’t seem like Rohit could take it for two more years. He also had his injury; he didn’t play a couple of IPL matches because of that either. I think that’s what he thought and left for the team to grow and build nicely in the new cycle. Such big decisions are taken by big people like Rohit themselves.”

"It was Rohit's own decision to retire from Test cricket. Such big decisions are taken by big people like Rohit themselves. Rohit wanted new teams to play in the new WTC cycle and give opportunities to young players."

- Jaydev shah (team India manager during BGT 2024-25 &… pic.twitter.com/597FcMaD4B

— 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐢𝐢⁴⁵ (@rushiii_12) July 31, 2025