1 / 8Rohit Sharma’s absence from the Sydney Test have raised serious questions about his future in Indian team. For long can Rohit prolong his international career? Will he get to play this year’s ICC Champions Trophy and will he play one more Test? (Image: AFP)
2 / 8The recent Melbourne Test against Australia was possibly Rohit Sharma’s last appearance for India in the traditional format, but will this white ball colossus continue beyond next month’s Champions Trophy is the million dollar question. Rohit’s absence from the ongoing fifth Test might have been sugarcoated as “opted to rest” by everyone concerned but if one cuts through the niceties, he is as good as dropped. When the name in talks is as big as Rohit, who has given his everything for the country for the past 17 years, his future appearances could be open to conjecture. (Image: AFP)
3 / 8Last year Rohit retired from T20Is following India’s triumph in the ICC T20 World Cup. The hard-hitting batsman bid farewell to the cricket’s shortest format as the batter with the most runs (4231) in the format and the batter with joint-highest number of hundreds (5) alongwith Glenn Maxwell.
4 / 8Post the Test series in Australia, the selectors will certainly have discussions and have a roadmap chalked out for both Rohit and Virat Kohli will be decided. The main assignments for Team India this year are the ODI series against England at home, the ICC Champions Trophy and the five-match Test series in England, (Image: AP)
5 / 8Obviously, the longevity of Kohli’s Test career hinges on the second innings at Sydney and it is increasingly becoming difficult to carry him for the England series unless he makes a significant contribution in the remainder of Sydney Test. Kohli yet again edged a delivery around the off-stump and was caught in the slips. The veteran batter scored just 19. Barring his unbeaten hundred in Perth, the batting great has been out on the scores of 5,7,11, 3,36 and 5. (Image: AFP)
6 / 8So, is there a way forward for Rohit, the Test cricketer? Unfortunately, the next Test match that India will play if they don’t qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final is against England from June 18-22 in Leeds. Of course, the selection committee will take call only after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but someone as intelligent as Rohit, a T20 World Cup and five-time IPL winning skipper, knows that it is difficult to add to his 67 Test appearances. (Image: AP)
7 / 8The ODIS are no longer the most sought after bilateral format as most teams keep them confined to just three games. Once the Champions Trophy is over, the next ODI bilateral rubber is against Bangladesh in August, and the next big 50-over event, the World Cup, is in South Africa in 2027.
8 / 8Rohit will be 40 by then. Will he be in prime form or fitness to play a blue riband tournament with a good 9 to 11 games in a space of six weeks including travel Hence, the Champions Trophy looks like a fitting tournament for Rohit’s international swansong. If India happens to win the event, Rohit will be the only captain apart from Mahendra Singh Dhoni to win two ICC events as captain. This apart, he has also captained the side in two more ICC finals — 2023 WTC and 2023 ODI World Cup. In short, it’s tough to imagine Rohit wearing an Indian jersey beyond the Champions Trophy.
