5 stunning coincidences in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's Test careers

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket this month. Rohit was the first to do so, putting up an Instagram story, confirming his retirement from Test matches on May 7. Just five days after that, Virat uploaded an Instagram post to confirm the end of his Test career.

Virat and Rohit had also retired from T20Is in the same timeline. Both of them called it a day on their respective T20I careers after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup. Now, both have retired from Test matches ahead of the ICC World Test Championship cycle 2025-27.

Apart from the aforementioned coincidences, here's a glance at five other stunning similarities in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's Test careers.

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#1 Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made their Test debut against West Indies after winning an ICC ODI event

Virat was a member of the 2011 ODI World Cup-winning squad. The right-handed batter from Delhi made his Test debut later in the same year against the West Indies in Kingston.

Two years later, Rohit lifted the Champions Trophy title with India in 2013. Later in November of that year, Rohit received his maiden Test cap against the West Indies as well.

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#2 Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma played their last home Test in Mumbai

Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium has been an iconic venue in Indian cricket history. The stadium played host to the 2011 ODI World Cup Final, where India defeated Sri Lanka to lift the trophy.

The venue hosted Sachin Tendulkar's last Test as well, and now it is also the stadium that played host to Virat and Rohit's last home Test. Both played their last home Test against New Zealand in Mumbai in November 2024.

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#3 Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli got out for single-digit score in their last Test innings

Rohit's last Test was against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the 2024 Boxing Day Test, where Rohit returned with scores of 3 & 9. Pat Cummins dismissed him in both innings.

Virat played his last Test against Australia as well. It was at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Scott Boland dismissed him twice in two innings. Virat's score in his last ever inning was 6.

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#4 Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's numbers in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is the only country where both Virat and Rohit played a Test match but never scored a half-century. Virat managed 59 runs in three Tests on Bangladeshi soil, with his highest score being 24.

Rohit played only the away Test match against Bangladesh. He scored six runs. It is a bit surprising to see this stat because Bangladesh has always been in the lower half of the ICC Test Rankings.

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#5 Both recorded 1st win as captain against Sri Lanka

Virat made his Test captaincy debut against Australia in late 2014, but his first Test win as a captain came against Sri Lanka in 2015. Also, the Sri Lanka series was Virat's first assignment as India's full-time Test captain.

Rohit also started his captaincy tenure with a Test series against Sri Lanka in 2022. India won both Tests in the series, thereby making a memorable start under Rohit's leadership.