'If I was coach you would have never...': Ravi Shastri's words on Rohit Sharma's Test retirement
Speaking on The ICC Review, Shastri revealed what he told Rohit during an IPL match in Mumbai, “I think it was in Mumbai and told him, if I was coach you would have never not played that last Test match. ” Cricket | Sports
What if Rohit Sharma had played that final Test in Sydney? Could India have drawn the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Australia?
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri thinks so, and he's not keeping quiet about it. In a candid revelation, Shastri has spoken about an emotional chat with Rohit, just days before the skipper announced his retirement from Test cricket. Shastri believed he would have backed Rohit to play the final Test against Australia in Sydney as the series was on line.
Rohit Sharma decided to retire from red-ball cricket after a tough tour of Australia, where India lost the BGT by 3-1. The 38-year-old opener had a poor run with the bat and didn’t feature in the crucial Sydney Test.
Speaking on The ICC Review with host Sanjana Ganesan, Shastri revealed what he told Rohit during an IPL match in Mumbai, “I think it was in Mumbai and told him, if I was coach you would have never not played that last Test match. You would have played that last Test match because the series wasn't over.”
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Shastri, known for his aggressive style, felt Rohit still had something to offer in that final game. “And I'm not someone who threw in the towel with the scoreline 2-1. If your mindset is you feel you are… that's not the stage, you leave a team.”
Rohit had missed the first Test due to personal reasons and scored just 31 runs in three matches. His form had dipped for a while and he averaged only 10.93 in his last eight Tests, crossing the fifty-run mark just once.
Still, Shastri believed Rohit’s presence could have made a difference.“That was a 30-40 run game… The pitch was so spicy in Sydney. Whatever kind of form he was in, he's a match-winner,” he said.
“If he had gone, sensed the situation, sensed the condition and smashed it for even 35-40 at the top, you never know. That series would have been level.”
Rohit’s retirement comes at a time of big change in Indian Test cricket. Just recently, Virat Kohli also stepped away from the red-ball format. With both stalwarts gone, Indian Test cricket now enters a new era where the absence of the iconic duo will surely be felt.
