Former India captain Rohit Sharma landed at The Oval to cheer for his team on Day 3 of the fifth and final Test against England. The recently retired (from Test cricket) opening batter made his way into the ground a few minutes after play began on Saturday.
Quite understandably, his entry was captured by reporters, who even requested Rohit for his reaction to the riveting action between India and England but the former skipper denied speaking to the media and walked inside.
The cameras once again found Rohit in the Oval stands towards the end of the first session of the day's play. Dressed in a casual black denim shacket and jeans, Rohit looked relaxed as always.
"He would be pretty happy with what he has been seeing this morning," said Mel Jones on commentary when the cameras panned to Rohit. She was referring to India's strong position in the match. They led by 166 runs with seven wickets in the bank at the end of the first session on Day 3.
{{/usCountry}}"He would be pretty happy with what he has been seeing this morning," said Mel Jones on commentary when the cameras panned to Rohit. She was referring to India's strong position in the match. They led by 166 runs with seven wickets in the bank at the end of the first session on Day 3.
{{/usCountry}}There has been no confirmation on whether Rohit would enter the Indian dressing room during or after the day's play to share his input, but the chances of that cannot be ruled out.
Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket a few days before the selectors announced India's squad for the England tour. His retirement was followed by Virat Kohli's.
In 67 Tests, Rohit scored 4301 runs at an average of 40.58. His Test career took a different turn after he decided to open the batting in 2019. He did an excellent job at the top of the order for five years before things crumbled down from the New Zealand series at home. Rohit's performance nosedived against New Zealand and it got worse when India toured Australia earlier this year.
After being unable to perform with the bat, he dropped himself from the XI in the last Test in Sydney and then announced his retirement from red-ball cricket in the middle of the IPL.
The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee appointed Shubman Gill as the captain of the Indian Test side. Rohit, however, is still officially the captain of India's ODI team.