Rohit: Let us tell you in detail about the statement of the former selector
Former Indian selector Jatin Paranjape has revealed that Rohit Sharma felt bad when his credibility and devotion towards Test cricket were questioned at one point in his career, and wondered how people could say that when he first started playing with the red ball, he had no interest in Tests. He wanted to play on the ongoing England tour.
Table of Contents
Former BCCI selector Paranjape believes that if he had not ruled himself out of the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney, India could have leveled the Test series in Australia earlier this year. Rohit, who was struggling with poor form and managed to score only 31 runs in the series, took the bold decision to withdraw from the last Test. In his absence, Jasprit Bumrah was handed over the captaincy.
Paranjape recalled Rohit’s passion for red-ball cricket while speaking with Cyrus Broacha on the ‘A Century of Stories’ podcast: “I remember he wasn’t playing Test cricket for India. And we had a conversation, and he said, ‘I started playing cricket with red-ball cricket, Jatin. How can you say I am not interested in Test cricket?’ I got the point, and I expected him to say that.”
Rohit wants to play on England tour: Paranjape
He further added, “Rohit lives for Test cricket. I think Rohit Sharma could have done a lot more in Test cricket. I think he would be the first person to say that as well. I was a little disappointed that he decided to keep himself out in Sydney, because we could have levelled the series. At that point, he had said that he wanted to play on the England tour.” In his Test career, Rohit Sharma played 67 matches and scored 4,301 runs in 116 innings at an average of 40.57. He scored 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries, and his highest score was 212 runs.
Rohit retired from T20 international cricket after leading India to the T20 World Cup title in 2024. Although he has distanced himself from the longer and shorter formats, he is available to represent India in ODI cricket.
