Rohit was stopped from announcing retirement by 'well wishers from outside', decision irked Gambhir: Report

Despite opting out of the fifth and final Test against Australia in Sydney and handing over the reins of the Indian team to senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma had firmly insisted he wasn’t done with the five-day format just yet. The ‘Hitman’ had been going through a lean patch in red-ball cricket in recent months, bringing up just one half-century since September, and was believed to have made his final appearance for India in whites during the ‘Boxing Day Test’ against Australia in Melbourne.

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Rohit, however, made it amply clear in an interview with broadcasters Star Sports in Sydney that he wasn't done with Test cricket yet, and that he will continue to represent the nation in the five-day and 50-over forms of the game.

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And India head coach Gautam Gambhir, for one, wasn’t a fan of the out-of-form India captain making a U-turn on his Test retirement. According to a report on The Times of India, Rohit was set to call time on his Test career after failing with the bat yet again in the MCG Test, but was ultimately stopped from doing so by “well wishers from the outside”.

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“Rohit had made up his mind after MCG. Had his well wishers from the outside didn’t force him to change his mind, we could have well seen another retirement in Australia,” a source told the newspaper, adding that Rohit’s decision did not sit well with Gambhir.

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Former India opener Gambhir, who is under immense pressure himself following a series of defeats during his reign as head coach, had refused to confirm Rohit’s place in the XI ahead of the final Test against Australia. He was also visibly cold towards Rohit during the training session on the eve of the ‘Pink Test’, further signalling a breakdown in his relations with the Test and ODI skipper.

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Had Rohit announced his Test retirement ahead of the Sydney game, it would have been the second high-profile exit by an Indian cricketer after Ravichandran Ashwin, although the spin legend quit all forms of international career after the conclusion of the third Test in Brisbane.

India ended up losing the five-Test series against Australia 3-1 after defeats in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, with the visitors conceding a massive lead in the rain-marred draw at The Gabba in Brisbane. This despite winning the series opener in Perth by a massive 295 runs under Bumrah’s leadership, with Rohit missing the game due to the birth of his second child.