IND vs AUS: Has Rohit Sharma Played His Last Test Match? - Skipper Answers 'Not Retiring Anytime Soon'

Add as a preferred source on Google

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has put his Test retirement rumours to bed, saying that he is "not retiring any time soon" and sat out of the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia due to the need of the team.

Rohit had received a lot of criticism for his form and some of his captaincy calls during the ongoing BGT series, having struggled with the bat, scoring just 31 runs in 5 innings at an average of 6.2, with a highest score of 10.

While there has been much speculation after he opted out of the final Test against Australia, Rohit has cleared the air that he was not dropped and only stood down from the Sydney clash in an interview with the broadcasters during lunch on day 2, when Australia trailed India by 84 runs.

As Star Sports' Jatin Sapru asked, "There were reports suggesting you were rested, dropped, or opted out," to which Rohit replied "None of that is true. I stood down. I informed the selectors and coach that I wasn't scoring runs, so I decided to step away."

"I will say one thing and it will have 50 interpretations. I had a chat with the coach and the selector was very simple. I am not making runs at the moment. I am not in form and it's an important game. We need an in-form player," Rohit said on Star Sports.

"Our batting order isn't in form at the moment. So out of form players can't carry the team at the moment. So this was the simple thing in my mind. It was my understanding that I should tell the coach and the selector and they backed my call."

Rohit also played down talks that he may have played his last Test and said, "People on the outside sitting with laptop, pen and paper don't decide when retirement will come and what decisions I need to take.

"I do not intend to leave the Sport. I am just out because I am out of form. You do not know what happens in the future. I might start scoring, I might not but I have a belief that I can come back as well," Rohit added.