Gavaskar Breaks Silence on Rohit-Kohli Test Retirement After India’s 2-0 Defeat

The visiting team won the two-Test series between India and South Africa 2-0. This is Team India's second clean sweep at home in 12 months. This raises numerous questions among cricket fans. Should Gautam Gambhir be removed from the coaching position? Is India lacking talented Test cricketers? Are the selectors selecting the wrong team? The biggest question amidst all this is: did Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retire from Test cricket early? Team India's legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has answered this question.

Speaking to Sports Tak, legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said, "We can't say that if they were there (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli), we wouldn't have lost." We can't say that if they were there, we would have won the match. It was under their leadership that Team India lost 3-0 to New Zealand at home. Then, we faced defeat in Australia."

It's worth noting that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket after a poor performance on the Australia tour. Both batsmen had been struggling for runs in Test cricket for a long time. After a 3-0 home defeat against New Zealand and a poor performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, pressure mounted on both players to retire. Both players retired midway through IPL 2025.

Virat Kohli, who made his Test debut against the West Indies in 2011, played 123 matches for India. He scored 9,230 runs in 210 innings at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries. Kohli also played 125 T20 matches and retired after the 2024 World Cup. Rohit Sharma also made his Test debut against the West Indies. Rohit Sharma, who scored 4,301 runs in 67 matches at an average of 40, scored 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries.