No pair in world cricket has 1000-run partnerships in all three formats of the game - Test, ODI and T20Is. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were one short of the historic milestone, having partnerships of 999 runs in Tests, 5315 in ODIs, and 1350 in T20Is. Now, with Rohit's Test retirement, they won't achieve 1000-run partnerships in all three formats.
The India captain stepped down from Test cricket ahead of the five-match Test tour to England. Earlier in the year, Rohit voiced his excitement to continue playing Test cricket and lead the team against the Ben Stokes-led side, but things changed drastically in the past week. According to reports, BCCI officials were unhappy with Rohit’s progress in red-ball cricket and were on the verge of axing him from Test captaincy.
The 38-year-old reportedly told the selectors and officials to allow him for two matches, but BCCI didn’t want to chop and change in the middle of a high-voltage series. After that, Rohit decided to announce his retirement from Test cricket but mentioned that he will continue to play ODI cricket.
“Hello everyone, I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket. It’s been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites. Thank you for all the love and support over the years. I will continue to represent India in the ODI format,” Rohit wrote on his Instagram story.
BCCI officials, meanwhile, haven’t finalised Rohit’s replacement as the Test captain. Shubman Gill’s name has been discussed heavily in the past week, but players such as KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are in the fray as well. Another option remains Jasprit Bumrah. The ace pacer has led well in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but the board is unwilling to continue with him, given his history with injuries.
