“I don’t see that as being a loss” - Former South Africa batter’s brutal take on Rohit Sharma’s Test retirement

Former South Africa cricketer Daryll Cullinan feels that Team India will not miss Rohit Sharma's services in red-ball cricket following the opener's retirement from the format. The veteran batter chose to walk away from Tests ahead of the England tour amid serious doubts regarding his future as both batter and captain.

Rohit Sharma was struggling in red-ball cricket since the home season in the second half of 2024. Poor returns against Bangladesh and New Zealand, the latter of which was a whitewash, put immense pressure on the opener ahead of the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia.

Missing the series opener and dropping himself out of the playing XI for the series finale, his campaign only included 31 runs in three Tests at an average of 6.20. Team India's eventual 1-3 loss, which sealed their elimination from the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, meant that fate was more or less sealed for Rohit Sharma.

Cullinan noted how Sharma was reluctant to lead from the front in the Sydney Test, instead choosing to drop himself.

"Rohit's retirement was probably long overdue in terms of test cricket away from India. Let's be honest about it. He hasn't really been the player that he throughout his career has been at home and we saw reluctance from him in recent Australian series to really take it on and lead from the front. So I don't see that as being a loss for India at all," Cullinan said in an interview with the Hindustan Times.

Rohit Sharma ended his Test career with 67 appearances, scoring 4301 runs at an average of 40.58. As captain, he led India in 24 matches with a win percentage of 50, which includes a run to the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) Final.

"India definitely have a realistic chance" - Cullinan feels the Men in Blue have a decent shot even without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

One of Team India's biggest strengths in their potential squad is the pace bowling unit. Headlined by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, the selectors have plenty of options regarding the third-choice seamer, ranging from the experienced Mohammad Shami to the in-form Prasidh Krishna, among others.

Moreover, they also have multiple options for the seam bowling all-rounder, with both Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur making a prominent case in a different manner.

"India definitely have a realistic chance if all their bowlers are fit and they're able to see through the series. They're always going to be in with a chance. Ability to bowl teams out and there's depth in India's batting," Cullinan said.

India's tour of England will begin with the first Test on June 20 in Headingley, Leeds. The BCCI are expected to name the new captain and the full squad in the coming days.