India captain Rohit retires from Tests before England tour

India captain Rohit Sharma has retired from Test cricket but will continue to play one-day internationals.

It comes after reports in the Indian media on Wednesday that the 38-year-old would be removed as captain for the Test series in England this summer.

“It has been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites,” Rohit posted on Instagram, alongside a picture of his Test cap.

Rohit will continue to play ODIs and remains captain in that format, having won the Champions Trophy in March. He retired from T20 internationals after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Rohit has played 67 Tests and has been India’s captain since replacing Virat Kohli in 2022.

He won half of his 24 Tests as skipper, giving him the best win percentage as India captain behind Kohli, and reached the final of the World Test Championship in 2023, where India lost to Australia.

But last year Rohit oversaw the 3-0 home defeat by New Zealand – India’s first Test series defeat at home for 12 years – and the 3-1 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

Rohit was dropped for the decisive fifth Test in Sydney after a run of poor form.

The elegant right-hander retires having made 4,301 Test runs at an average of 40.57 with 12 centuries. His top score was 212 against South Africa in Ranchi in 2019, scored off just 255 balls.

He had made only one fifty in 15 innings since his last Test hundred – 103 against England in Dharamsala in March 2024.

The highly-anticipated five-match series against England begins in Leeds on 20 June and marks the start of the new World Test Championship cycle for both sides.

Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah deputised for Rohit when he missed the first Test in Australia through injury and did so again when he sat out the series finale.

Roger Binny, the former India all-rounder and current chair of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said Rohit’s impact “transcends records and statistics”.

“He brought a sense of calm and assurance to the team – both as a player and as a captain,” he said.

“His ability to stay composed under pressure and to consistently put the team’s needs above his own made him a truly special player and leader.

Analysis by chief cricket reporter Stephan Shemilt

For as much as England and Australia want to think they have a birthright position at the top of the game, the job of India men’s Test captain is the biggest in the global game.

Without quite touching the galactico status of his predecessors MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, Rohit is still a megastar. His exit seemed inevitable after he dropped himself for the final Test in Australia, but this remains seismic news. India do not change Test captains often.

The timing is interesting. It is more than five months since India last played a Test. The tour of England begins in a month and this is the start of a new World Test Championship cycle. It is a trophy that has eluded India.

There is no shortage of contenders to take over. The IPL means Indian cricket has become adept at giving players leadership training. Jasprit Bumrah will be front of the queue given his role as vice-captain and the experience he has of standing in for Rohit. If it is decided the job is too much for a fast bowler, then Shubman Gill or Rishabh Pant could come into consideration.

This is the beginning of a shift for Indian cricket. Kohli and Rohit have been titans of the IPL, but also pre-date the competition. Whoever is the next captain will not be from the same mould. Will Test cricket still be championed by the new skipper?