Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa recently came forward and gave his take on the Test retirement of veteran India batter Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. It is worth noting that both Kohli and Rohit announced their retirements from the longest formats in May 2025.
Speaking on the same, Uthappa opined that both Rohit’s and Kohli’s exits from Test cricket did not feel natural. While ruling out the possibility of a forced surrender, Uthappa did state that their retirement was unnatural.
"I don't know if it was a forced surrender, but it definitely didn't seem like a natural exit. What the truth is, they themselves will have to share in their own time. But I don't think it was natural,” Uthappa said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Interestingly, both Rohit and Kohli came under the scanner after a tough Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour to Australia in early 2025. Despite a century in one clash, Kohli struggled to score runs in the remaining games, with Rohit failing as well.
Uthappa talked about the hunger returning for Rohit and Kohli
Notably, both Kohli and Rohit have been in good form as of late. Solely playing ODI cricket for the Men in Blue, the two stars have been scoring heaps of runs of late, and Uthappa opined that it is brilliant to see the hunger return within them.
"When Rohit was not scoring runs in Australia, I felt that he should take a break for six months and work on his fitness. I had no doubt in my mind that he would score runs. In both Virat and Rohit, you can see that hunger back in their eyes, which is really cool. It's endearing to see it from a veteran who's been there, done that, and achieved so much in international cricket,” Uthappa said.
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