Is Rohit Sharma Going To 'Opt Out' Of India's England Test Series?
IPL 2025 is in full swing, but at 37, Rohit Sharma's future with the Indian team is uncertain. Retirement rumors persist despite his success. Will he lead the Test series in England?
IPL 2025 has taken center stage in the cricket ecosystem — fans, pundits, and non-participating cricketers are all engaged with it in some way. However, still, Rohit Sharma‘s future with the Indian team — a story that began in December 2024 — continues to dominate headlines.
Rohit is 37 and the retirement rumors are unlikely to stop anytime soon. He put the ODI ones to rest after lifting the 2025 Champions Trophy which made him only the second Indian captain with multiple ICC titles. In no unclear words, he came to the post-match press conference and said that he wasn’t going ‘anywhere’.
related stories
But what about Tests? When he decided to opt out of the last Test against Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, accepting that he wasn’t contributing enough, he left himself vulnerable to questioning. His form in the format hasn’t been great but it’s not as straightforward as just letting him go because vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah is too precious to captain and play in every Test and there aren’t too many other options.
Now, according to a report by India Today, Rohit has ‘decided’ that he won’t participate in India’s next Test series, the five-match tour of England in June-August. The report suggests that Virat Kohli will continue, despite suffering from a similar lack of form in Tests over the same period.
It’s quite in contrast to another report by the news agency PTI which on Tuesday (March 25) claimed that Rohit would lead the team in the series despite his form.
“Rohit Sharma is expected to lead the India senior team in England despite his modest outings and two Test series defeats against New Zealand and Australia," the report said.
The report further said that the team announcements for the Test series and the India ‘A’ tour of England that will precede it will likely be made during or just after the IPL 2025 playoffs.
“There is enough time to announce the squad, mostly ahead of the knockouts or just after those matches. You will then get a clear picture as to which players are available by then," a source close to the development told the news agency on the condition of anonymity.
Rohit is representing Mumbai Indians in the IPL. The team lost to Chennai Super Kings in Chepauk in their first match of the campaign and will now play Gujarat Titans on March 29.
- Location :
- First Published: