NEW DELHI: India’s ODI captain Rohit Sharma sparked curiosity among fans on Wednesday with a cryptic Instagram story. He shared a picture featuring some toys and captioned it: “My girls tried explaining these to me, I still don’t get it.“This comes shortly after Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket in May, putting an end to widespread speculation about his future in the longest format of the game.The 38-year-old had a highly impactful second half of his Test career, amassing 4,301 runs in 67 matches, including 12 centuries and 18 fifties, at an average of 40.57.Rohit had led India to the World Test Championship final against Australia and had been at the helm during several key series — barring the recent inconsistent outings against New Zealand at home and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.Despite stepping away from the Test format, Rohit will continue to represent India in ODIs.
“It’s been an absolute honor to represent my country in whites,” he shared in an emotional Instagram post. “Thank you for all the love and support over the years.”Rohit’s form had dipped during the 2024–25 season, where he managed an average of just 10.93 in 11 innings across eight Tests. Overall, he concluded his Test career with 4,301 runs in 67 matches, maintaining an average of 40.57 and notching up 12 hundreds.He took over the Test captaincy from Virat Kohli in March 2022 and during his tenure led India to 12 wins, nine losses, and three draws. As skipper, he also scored 1,254 runs.
His tenure, however, ended with two back-to-back series defeats — a historic 3-0 loss to New Zealand at home and a 4-1 defeat in Australia, which cost India a place in the 2025 World Test Championship final.On the brighter side, Rohit had recently led India to major titles — the 2025 ODI Champions Trophy and the 2024 T20 World Cup — before retiring from T20Is as well.Shubman Gill has since been named the new Test captain, taking over the reins from Rohit.
