Virat, Rohit's Retirements Decoded By Gavaskar: 'Different Story If…"

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has explained the logic Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma‘s decision to retire from Test cricket ahead of the upcoming tour of England. Kohli made the shock announcement via social media on Monday, after Rohit also decided to retire from Test cricket last week. The two stalwarts of Indian cricket are expected to continue in ODIs only, having also announced their T20I retirements on the same day after the T20 World Cup final last year.

Rohit and Kohli’s retirements mean India will have a relatively inexperienced squad for the five-match Test series against England. Gavaskar suggested that the two would’ve played against England had it been a three-Test tour instead of five.

“All of us in Indian cricket wanted them to keep playing. If you have to make a decision, they are the only ones who can do it. Maybe they decided that if this were a 3-match series, it would have been a different story. But maybe this being 5 Test matches across 6 weeks, there’s no break, maybe that’s why they did it,” Gavaskar told Sports Today.

Gavaskar pointed out how players often tend to start doubting their abilities, especially after a disastrous tour like Australia where both Rohit and Kohli failed to fire.

“Questions were asked of a lot of players after the Australia tour, not just 1-2 players but everyone involved, in bowling or batting. After winning the first Test, everyone thought India will be successful in Australia for a third consecutive time. This didn’t happen, so of course questions were asked,” he added.

“And sometimes you ask yourselves those questions, do I still have that ability, am I finding satisfaction in this. When you start asking these questions, you start telling yourself that if I remove myself, it will be better. To quash those thoughts is difficult,” Gavaskar explained.