India captain Rohit Sharma refuted the rumours of his retirement on Saturday while revealing that he stood down from the ongoing fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia due to his below-par form.
The acclaimed opener has had a poor series, with critics suggesting his omission from the Test — with the visitors down 2-1 going into the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) — was the end of his red-ball career.
But the 37-year-old has hit back, telling Indian broadcaster Star Sports at the SCG: “I’m not going anywhere.”
“This decision is not a retirement decision nor am I going to step aside from the game,” Rohit Sharma added.
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Rohit Sharma missed the first Test in Perth for the birth of his second child and has not looked fully engaged since, failing to get past 10 runs in any of his five innings.
Rohit said that he had told the coach and selectors that he was “not in form” and that for the critical final Test, the team needed “a player in form”.
His recent lacklustre performances come on the back of a similarly poor return during India’s 3-0 home series loss to New Zealand during October-November.
Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah insisted at the coin toss on Friday that Rohit had “opted to rest” for the good of the team rather than being forced out.
READ: Jasprit Bumrah leaves Sydney Test with possible injury