Rohit Sharma Missed Test Records After Retirement! 

Indian captain Rohit Sharma shook the entire cricket world by surprise when he announced his retirement from test cricket via Instagram story on May 07 (Wednesday). Not only did he make a silent exit from the longest format, but he also confirmed to represent India in the ODI format. 

Known for his ability to smash sixes out of the park, the Hitman decided to retire ahead of the five-match test series against England commencing from 20 June. 

With the next World Test Championship (WTC) on its way, the 38-year-old’s sudden decision came amidst increasing speculations and criticisms about his captaincy and recent form in tests. 

Having accumulated 4,301 runs in 116 innings at an average of 40.57, the right-handed batter missed out on the golden opportunities to script sensational records following his retirement from the red-ball format. 

Let’s take a look at those six unattained milestones that could have etched Rohit Sharma’s name in the record books as a brilliant captain and aggressive batter. 

1. First Indian Captain to win ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Trophy: 

Rohit Sharma led India to the World Test Championship 2023 final, but lost to Australia in a highly pivotal clash. Likewise, Virat Kohli led Team India to the WTC 2021 final, but faced a defeat to New Zealand.

However, in the third edition of the WTC cycle in 2023-25, Team India missed an opportunity to secure a berth in the final after losing the five-match test series to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. 

Suppose Rohit continued with his captaincy stint, then he could have started the forthcoming edition of the WTC cycle 2025-27 on a fresh note. 

Known as one of India’s most successful captains, Sharma’s brilliance would have easily guided India to victory in the fourth edition of the WTC final in 2027 and add another ICC title to his name. Therefore, Rohit missed out on becoming the first captain to achieve a WTC championship victory. 

2. First Test Century At Lord’s Cricket Ground: 

Known as the ‘Home of Cricket’, the Lord’s cricket ground is one such iconic venue where Rohit Sharma hasn’t scored a century so far in his test cricket career. 

The veteran batter played only 2 innings at this venue during India’s 5-match series in 2021 and managed to score just 104 runs. Moreover, Rohit fell short of just 17 runs to register a memorable century to his name at this venue:

Despite Rohit’s ability to smash centuries in challenging and tricky conditions, his retirement leaves this achievement incomplete. 

3. India’s Most Six Hitters in Test Cricket History: 

Rohit Sharma, with 88 sixes, has let go of a fantastic opportunity to conclude his test career as the Indian batter with the most sixes. He was just three sixes away from surpassing former batsman Virender Sehwag’s record of 90 sixes to establish his name in the record books: 

4: 14th Indian to Achieve 5000+ Runs in Test Cricket Career:  

With 4,301 Runs, Rohit Sharma required another 699 runs to achieve 5,000+ runs in his test cricket career. Also, he could have surpassed the former captain MS Dhoni’s tally of 4,876 runs to become the 14th Indian batsman to score above 5,000 runs in the longest format.

5. Test Series Victory in England as Indian Captain: 

Rohit Sharma could have led India to a remarkable test series victory in England. While India secured a memorable test series win at home against England under his captaincy, triumphing a series on English soil in his first attempt itself would have made his leadership records more special. 

It was in 2007 when Rahul Dravid lifted the Pataudi Trophy in England by winning the 3-match test series by 1-0. Since then, no other Indian captains that including the great names of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli managed to win a test series in England. 

Rohit could have become the next captain after Dravid to lead India to glory in the upcoming 5-match test series in England. Unfortunately, this will remain one such unfulfilled dream in his test captaincy record. 

6. Ro-Ko’s 1000+ Run-Partnership Across All Formats: 

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, popularly known as the ‘Ro-Ko’ partners, could have become the only pair in the world to maintain 1000+ partnership runs across all formats of international cricket (including tests, ODIs, and T20Is). 

The duo veteran batters formed a 999 partnership in test and fell 1 run short of achieving a sensational milestone in the history of cricket. 

Even Kohli recently announced his retirement on May 12 via an Instagram post, five days after Rohit’s decision. This shows Ro-Ko’s strong bonding on and off the field. 

Here are the detailed stats of Rohit and Kohli’s partnerships across all formats of international cricket (in tests, ODIs, and T20Is):