'If I were the coach...': Ravi Shastri's fiery take on Rohit Sharma's Test retirement

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri expressed his belief that he would have ensured Rohit Sharma, who recently announced his retirement from Test cricket, took the field for the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia in Sydney earlier this year. Last week, Rohit concluded his Test career with an impressive tally of 4,301 runs in 67 matches, boasting an average of 40.57, which includes 12 centuries and a personal best score of 212.

As India's Test captain from 2022, Rohit led the team in 24 matches, achieving victory in 12 of them, and guiding the squad to the runners-up position in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final. However, a challenging run of form since September of the previous year placed Rohit's Test career in a precarious position. During the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, he managed to surpass the 50-run mark only once, averaging a mere 10.93.

After missing the first Test in Perth due to the birth of his son, Rohit returned to participate in the subsequent three Tests but struggled significantly, accumulating only 31 runs. This disappointing performance ultimately led to the 38-year-old being sidelined for the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January.

"I saw Rohit a lot at the toss (during an IPL match). At the toss, you don't get enough time to speak. Though I did put my hand on his shoulder in one of the games. I think it was in Mumbai, and I told him, if I were the coach, you would have never not played that last Test match.

"You would have played that last Test match because the series wasn't over. And I'm not someone who threw in the towel with the scoreline 2-1. If your mindset is you feel you are… that's not the stage, you leave a team," said Shastri on The ICC Review show.

Shastri went on to explain why Rohit ought to have participated in the Test match in Sydney, where the series was tied at 2-1 at the time.

“That was a 30-40 run game. And that's exactly what I told him. The pitch was so spicy in Sydney. Whatever kind of form he was in, he's a match-winner.

“If he had gone, sensed the situation, sensed the condition and smashed it for even 35-40 at the top, you never know. That series would have been level. But that's each one to his own. Other people have different styles. This would have been my style and I let him know it. It's sitting in my heart for a long time. I had to get it out. And I told him that."

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