'His Own Decision...': Ex-English Captain Michael Atherton Smells Foul Play in Wake of Rohit Sharma's Shock Retirement

Ind vs Eng: Weeks ahead of the tour of England, India captain Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket and that has stunned the cricketing world. Most believe may be Rohit wanted to still continue playing but the management may have been against the idea. Former English captain Michael Atherton thinks Rohit knew he was going to be axed and hence had to make the decision. 

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'Completely his own decision, or…’

"Was that retirement completely his own decision, or did he get a sense that he's about to be pushed or the axe was coming because there was a report, the day before the announcement from Rohit, that the selectors had decided to move on," Atherton said on Sky Sports.

"So that's speculation, we don't know, but ultimately the decision didn't come as a surprise because it's a bad combination for any captain, as you know, and as I know well if you're losing games, and you ain't getting any runs, and India had lost 5 out of the last 6 matches under Rohit's captaincy. Three against New Zealand and a couple in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and his form had really tailed off and of course, that's a bad combination for any captain," the former English captain added.

Rohit's Woeful BGT

Rohit was in woeful form during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where he managed to score merely 31 runs in three Tests. 

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His form was so bad that he finally decided to drop himself from the side for the fifth and final Test at Sydney Cricket Ground. India eventually lost the series 3-1 despite taking the lead by winning the first Test.