Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket. Let’s have a look at the best moments of Rohit Sharma’s Test career.
Rohit Sharma, popularly known as the ‘Hitman’, was the 280th cricketer to represent India in Men’s Tests.
Dream debut
Rohit Sharma had to wait for more than 6 years from the time of his International debut to make his Test debut. Rohit’s 177 against West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2013 is the 2nd highest score by an Indian in Tests. Shikhar Dhawan’s 187 against Australia in the same year remains as the highest score by an Indian on debut. Overall, Rohit’s 177 is the ninth best effort by a debutant.
One brings two
Rohit Sharma’s 2nd Test was also the 200th and final Test match of the great Sachin Tendulkar. Rohit celebrated the fellow Mumbaikar’s farewell by scoring a century. He was the third and the last Indian to score centuries in his first and second Test matches.
Mohammad Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly were the other two batters to score centuries in their first two Tests.
The long wait
Unfortunately, those two centuries remain as Rohit’s only two Test centuries till November 2017. Rohit was one of four centurions for India against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. Virat Kohli’s 213 was the headline act of the match.
Purple patch as an opener
Rohit Sharma opened in Tests for the first-ever time in 2019. Just like his debut game, Rohit scored a daddy century in his first match as an opener. In fact, he scored twin centuries in that game. Rohit’s 176 and 127 against South Africa in Visakhapatnam gave him more honours. He was the first batter to score twin centuries in the first Test as an opener. He followed it up with his maiden double century in the Ranchi Test against the same opposition.
Home and away centuries against England
Batting in home conditions is considered to be a cakewalk for most batters. However, batting in India became particularly tricky since the start of 2021. Result-oriented pitches became a norm all over the world after the introduction of the World Test Championship in 2019.
England won the first Test in Chennai in 2021, thanks to Joe Root’s double century. India were in a must-win situation to qualify for the WTC final and demanded bowling-friendly conditions. The second Test played in Chennai was instant proof. India scored 329 runs in the first innings, out of which 161 came from Rohit Sharma. It will remain as one of the finest knocks by an opener in Chennai.
India toured England later that year and was in dire straits in the 2nd innings of the Oval Test. India had already conceded a 99-run lead, and then came Rohit’s finest moment in Test cricket. Rohit and KL Rahul added 83 runs for the first wicket and managed to erase the majority of the deficit by themselves. Rohit notched his first century in overseas conditions and acted as the major catalyst for a famous 157-run victory.
The final purple patch
Rohit Sharma’s Test form in 2024 reached a new high. He scored two Test centuries against England, one in Rajkot and another one in Dharamsala. The series was remembered more for Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 712 runs than for Rohit Sharma’s 400 runs. The way Rohit Sharma led the young squad, comprising the likes of Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, and Devdutt Padikkal, would have given him the most satisfaction as the captain of the Indian Test team.
Rohit Sharma may not have achieved the heights of Sunil Gavaskar or Sachin Tendulkar, the greatest Test batters from Mumbai. He may not have achieved similar heights as his contemporary, Virat Kohli. However, Rohit will have a place in the list of most stylish batters to have ever played for India.
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