Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir’s reaction on Rohit Sharma’s Test retirement goes viral, see post

Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, used three adjectives to describe India captain Rohit Sharma following his Test cricket retirement, which garnered significant attention online. Gambhir characterized Rohit as a master, a leader, and a gem, summarizing the opener’s career in the longest format of the game. Rohit himself would acknowledge that he didn’t always fulfill his potential with consistent results, but he will also be remembered as the first Indian captain to exclude himself from the playing XI due to his poor form.

Having shared the dressing room with Rohit as a player, coach, and captain, including their time together in India’s 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team, Gambhir shared his thoughts on X, formerly Twitter, after Rohit’s retirement announcement via an Instagram story

Taking to X, team India head coach shared a photo of Rohit Sharma and wrote, “A master, a leader & a gem!”

May 7, 2025

Since being shared, this post has gone viral on the internt. Till now the post has gained over 9 lakh views with numerous comments.

Meanwhile, a day earlier to Rohit Sharma’s annoucement, Gautam Gambhir was questioned about the future of Rohit and Virat Kohli ahead of the England tour, to which he gave an open-ended response. While discussions about Kohli, 36, aren’t as prominent, questions about his future also persist.

“First things first, a coach’s job isn’t selecting the team. It is the job of selectors to select. The coach only selects the 11 who will play a match. Neither those who coached before me were selectors nor am I a selector,” Gambhir, who was speaking at the ABP News’ ‘India At 2047’ Summit, tried to steer clear of commenting on the fortunes of the senior players.

He further said, “Till the time they (Rohit and Kohli) are performing, they should be a part of the team. When you start and when you end, is your individual decision.

“No coach, no selector, no BCCI can tell you when you should call it quits. If you perform, then why 40, you can jolly well play till 45, who’s stopping you?” he quipped.

Meanwhile, India is scheduled to tour England for five Tests beginning June 20.

Rohit will continue to play for India in one-day internationals. He expressed his gratitude on Instagram, stating that representing his country in Test cricket has been an honor and thanking fans for their support. Taking to Instagram he said, “It’s been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites,” he wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for all the love and support over the years.”

Rohit’s performance during the 2024-25 season was challenging, with an average of 10.93 runs across 11 innings in eight tests. Throughout his Test career, he scored 4,301 runs in 67 matches, averaging 40.57, and scored 12 centuries for the national team. He took over from Virat Kohli as captain in March 2022, leading India to 12 victories, nine defeats, and three draws, while also scoring 1,254 runs during his captaincy.