5 stunning similarities between Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni's Test careers

Rohit Sharma announced retirement from Test cricket on May 7 via an Instagram story. The Indian opener had previously stated that he wished to play in the upcoming away Test series against England.

However, a month before the series, Rohit Sharma has decided to end his Test career. Incidentally, Sharma announced his retirement from Tests on Instagram, just like MS Dhoni had announced retirement from white-ball international cricket. The timing for the announcement was quite similar as well.

While MS Dhoni retired from ODIs and T20Is in 2020, he had retired from Test cricket back in 2014 after the Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne. There are some similarities between Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni's Test careers. Here's a list of five such coincidences.

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#1 Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni played their last Test match as captain

It is rare to see cricketers getting a chance to announce retirement while they are the captains of the team. However, both Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni led India in their respective farewell Test appearances.

Dhoni led India in the third Test of the 2014/15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series, which ended in a draw at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Similarly, Sharma led India in the fourth Test of the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, where India lost by 184 runs.

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#2 MCG was the venue for Rohit and Dhoni's last Tests

The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground hosted the matches which proved to be the last ones of Rohit and Dhoni's careers. Incidentally, both matches started on the Boxing Day on December 26 as well.

Australia batted first in both matches. The Indian team received a target of more than 300 in both games. While the match in 2014 ended in a draw, India lost the game in 2024 by 184 runs.

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#3 Last home Test at Wankhede Stadium

It may surprise a few fans but Sachin Tendulkar's last Test was also MS Dhoni's last Test match on home turf. The Wankhede Stadium hosted that game between India and West Indies in 2013. Dhoni played 11 Tests after that, with all of them taking place away from home.

On the other side, Rohit Sharma played his last home Test against New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium in 2024. India traveled to Australia after that Test for the BGT series, which proved to be Rohit's last ever.

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#4 Steve Smith scored a 100 at number 4 in their last Test matches

Steve Smith captained Australia in the 2014 Boxing Day Test match against India. Batting at number four, Smith aggregated 192 runs off 305 balls in that game hosted by Melbourne.

10 years later, Smith played as vice-captain for Australia in the 2024 Boxing Day Test match against India. Once again, he batted at number four and scored a century. His 140 runs off 197 balls set the platform for Australia's win.

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#5 Both scored 1 Test double hundred

MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma registered a double hundred each in their respective Test careers. Dhoni played a memorable knock of 224 runs against Australia back in 2013 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Six years after that match, Rohit Sharma smashed his only Test double century against South Africa at the JSCA International Stadium Complex. Opening the batting, Rohit aggregated 212 runs off 255 balls. India won both the Test matches where Dhoni and Rohit crossed 200.