Rohit Sharma: Have not retired, just stood down from SCG Test

India captain Rohit Sharma, who had opted out of the Sydney Test, has confirmed that he has no plans of retiring anytime soon. In Rohit's absence, Jasprit Bumrah is leading the side at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). In fact, Rohit was spotted having a chat with the team during the drinks break during the first session of the second day's play.

"I have not retired, just stood down from this match," Rohit said during the lunch break of the ongoing Test.

"I stood down [from the SCG Test]. I told the selectors and coach that runs are not coming from my bat, so I decided to step away. Runs are not coming now, but not guaranteed it'll not come five months later. I'll work hard.

"People on the outside sitting with laptop, pen, and paper don’t decide when retirement will come and what decisions I need to take."

Rohit has scored just 31 runs at 6.2 in the series so far. He missed the first Test in Perth due to personal reasons. Post his return he registered scores of 3, 6, 10, 3 and 9. 

Stand-in captain Bumrah lauded Rohit's selfless act. "Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game. That shows there's a lot of unity in this team. There's no selfishness. Whatever is in the team's best interest, we are looking to do that," Bumrah had said during the toss in Sydney.

India won the first Test in Perth in Rohit's absence, but since then, they have lost two of the three Tests. As a result, Australia lead the five-match Test series 2-1. India need to win the SCG Test to keep the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Rohit has already retired from T20 Internationals (T20I) following India's triumph at the T20 World Cup 2024. Since then, Rohit has played eight Tests and managed only 164 runs at 10.93, with just one fifty to his name.