Rohit Sharma says 'I have not retired,' makes honest admission on why he 'opted out' of Sydney Test

Rohit Sharma's honest admission on why he 'opted out' of Sydney Test (AP Photo)

Rohit Sharma ended all speculations surrounding his future with Team India after the skipper stunned many by "opting himself out" of the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Indian skipper spoke to Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the series, during the Lunch interval on Day 2, where he made it clear that he has no plans of retiring anytime soon from the Test format.

"I have stood down from this Test but I am not going anywhere. This is not a retirement or moving away from the format. A guy with a mic, pen or laptop, what they write or say, it doesn't matter. They cannot decide for us. Yes, runs are not coming but there is no guarantee that you won't be able to score two months down the line or six months down the line. I am mature enough to know what I am doing," said the Indian skipper while interacting with sports presenter Jatin Sapru and ex-India cricketer-turned commentator Irfan Pathan.

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Sharing details of the conversation he had with the coach and selector, Rohit made honest admission about his slump in form. He added that the call was taken after considering what was at stake in Sydney.

"The chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple. I'm not being able to score runs, I'm out of form, and we needed players who were in form. Anyways our batters have struggled in the tour so it gets difficult to carry out of form players."

Rohit also mentioned that he took the decision after reaching Sydney but only had the conversation with the management post New Year. He further stated that he tried his best but was unable to produce similar results on the field.

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However, retirement is one thing that Rohit is not contemplating and while he was walking off from the interview, he quipped once more: “main kahin ja nahin raha. Idhar hi hun (I am not going anywhere)."

Jasprit Bumrah is leading the side in Rohit's absence, which he also did in the series opener in Perth when the latter skipped the contest due to personal reasons.