'Knew he would be a great captain when I was in BCCI' - Sourav Ganguly lauds Rohit Sharma after Test retirement
"He had a good career, he will play One Day for India and IPL... BCCI's work is to support the player," Sourav Ganguly said about Rohit Sharma.
Rohit Sharma called time on his commendable Test career on Wednesday, May 7, via an Instagram story. He led India in 24 Test matches, and the Asian giants won 12 of them. Under his astute leadership, India made the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2023. The Nagpur-born also led India to the 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy titles, but he has no plans to bid adieu to ODI format yet.
Sourav Ganguly, who was the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president when Rohit was appointed as the all-format captain of the Men in Blue, said that he knew the opening batter would excel in the role. The Prince of Bengal sent his best wishes to Rohit, highlighting some of his phenomenal achievements as captain.
"He is a great player for India, but someone has to leave the game. My best wishes to him. He had a good career, he will play One Day for India and IPL... BCCI's work is to support the player. When I was part of BCCI, we thought he would be a great captain for India, and so he was. We won World Cup, Champion's trophy, Test Cricket under him," Ganguly was quoted as saying by India Today.
Rohit made his Test debut in November 2013 against the West Indies. His final appearance in the longest format came in Australia in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in December 2024. The 38-year-old finished with 4,301 runs from 67 Tests at an average of 40.58. He notched up 12 tons and 18 fifties during his international red-ball career.
3 replacements for Rohit Sharma as India's Test captain
Rohit, who retired from T20I cricket last year, will continue playing in the ODI format. His childhood coach, Dinesh Lad, recently said in an interview that the right-handed batter hopes to lead India to glory in the 2027 ODI World Cup before retiring.
Rohit has been in decent form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The Mumbai Indians batter has scored 300 runs from 11 matches at an average of 30 and a strike rate of 152.29. He has registered three half-centuries so far.
Download Our App