Rohit Sharma took everyone by surprise by announcing his Test retirement on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, while playing for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Rohit was expected to lead India in the upcoming five-match Test series in England, starting in June, as reported by several media outlets earlier. However, some recent media reports suggested that selectors wanted to name a new captain, and his place in the side wasn't guaranteed due to his poor red-ball form that ultimately led to his retirement from Test cricket. He had earlier retired from T20Is after winning the T20 World Cup last year.

The former India Test captain went back in time to recall his earlier days and paid a heartfelt tribute to former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid, under whom he made his ODI debut. Dravid was also the coach of the India cricket team when Rohit was an all-format captain. India won the T20 World Cup in 2024 after 17 years, when Dravid and Rohit were at the helm of affairs in Indian cricket.

"I know everything about Rahul bhai... We worked together for 3 years. He is very special to me. He was the one who gave me my first Indian (ODI) cap. When I made my debut in Ireland, he was the captain. So I can’t ever forget those special moments in my life...He is a very high-profile human being. In Indian cricket, his name ranks among the top players, and that’s deserved, but for me it was how he presented himself in front of us and that has inspired me a lot," Rohit told journalist Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel.

Rohit played 67 Test matches and 159 T20Is for India, having scored 4301 runs in red-ball cricket and 4231 runs in the shortest format of the game at an average of 40.57 and 32.05 respectively. He was also a part of India's 2007 World Cup-winning team and remains the only member to have won two T20 World Cup titles.

"Hello everyone, I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket. It's been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites," he captioned the post on Instagram with a picture of his Test cap while announcing Test retirement.

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