It’s the second day of the new year, and Rohit Sharma has reportedly opted out for the series-deciding SCG Test. Or he’s been dropped. Or rested. We might never know the real truth. Not that you would expect an official release, but the BCCI site has been conveniently down since the new year kicked in.

Nearly three years ago, Rohit became India’s full-time captain at 34. A month before that, he had been named in ICC’s Test team of the year. Announcing his promotion, chief selector Chetan Sharma had dubbed Rohit the “No.1 cricketer of our country”.

Now, with India 1-2 down in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and one Test remaining, Rohit’s Test career could be over for good. Hours before reports of his “axing” circulated, coach Gautam Gambhir deflected the Rohit question, saying India would look at the wicket before deciding on the playing XI. A full-time captain’s selection is rarely governed by how much grass there is.

Rohit’s fall as a Test cricketer has been dangerously fast.

Six months ago, Rohit would have been an easy pick for any world Test XI. The year started with two hundreds against England at home: in Rajkot, he scored 131 after India were reduced to 33-3. In the fifth Test at Dharamsala, he cracked another century, finishing with 400 runs in the series at 44.44. Only three India captains had hit more runs in a home Test series.

In fact, since the start of the first World Test Championship cycle, and until the end of the England tour, Rohit’s run tally as opener was the second-best in the world. No one had hit more centuries – 9.

India’s Test schedule took a backseat after England’s departure, beginning with two months of the IPL. In December 2023, Rohit had been rather unceremoniously replaced as Mumbai Indians captain by Hardik Pandya. Playing as a pure batter, he ended as the highest run-getter for Mumbai Indians. Yet, unaddressed captaincy controversy lingered in the background, with Rohit publicly calling out host broadcasters Star Sports for intruding on a private conversation and then televising bits of it.

The high before the low

At the T20 World Cup, Rohit’s captaincy hit its zenith. India broke their 11-year long ICC trophy drought, propelling Rohit’s legacy to a higher dimension. He retired from the format moments later, walking away at the top. It was a defining juncture: a new coach was set to take over soon after.

Now a two-format player, Rohit top-scored in a rare ODI series loss to Sri Lanka. It was supposed to be a passing blip, and by then, the anticipation for the Australia tour was already heating up.

India had two home series planned, against Bangladesh and New Zealand. It was supposed to be the soft cushion before the true test began. It ended up being a bruise to Rohit’s credentials, kickstarting the decline.

The wretched New Zealand series

Rohit crossed double-digits just once against Bangladesh, beaten twice by pace in Chennai, and twice by Mehidy Hasan in Kanpur. But with Rohit orchestrating one of the great ‘race against time’ Test victories in the latter, there was little focus on his form.

And then, came New Zealand. A three-nil whitewash shattered a proud home record that had stood for 12 long years. For the first time in 55 years, an Indian captain had lost as many home Tests in a series. Rohit received considerable flak for undermining the result with his “one [lapse] in twelve years is okay” quip.

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On a personal level, the series worsened his numbers further. He made fifty in the Bengaluru Test before another freak dismissal brought his end, failing to stop a defended ball from rolling onto the stumps. Rohit managed 37 from his next four innings, as pressure mounted with each loss, reaching fever pitch after the third debacle in a row.

Rohit misses the first Test, and is not missed

All eyes switched to the Australia tour, but news had already spread that Rohit would miss (at least) the first Test in Perth for the birth of his child. A trip to Australia is always difficult, but having your captain – and primary opener – absent is a serious complication. Yet, somehow, India did not miss Rohit. Jasprit Bumrah stepped up admirably, and India registered their biggest-ever win in Australia. It was the first real indication that life beyond Rohit was realistic after all.

Rohit, the opener, wasn’t missed either. KL Rahul proved to be more than a stop-gap, battling 250 deliveries across both innings. Given Rohit’s previous record in SENA countries, it became clear he wouldn’t just walk back in and take the opening slot.

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When he did return, Rohit was slotted in at No.6, six years since he had last taken up a middle-order role. The move did not work, as he managed 3 & 6. Further, questions over his perceived lack of proactiveness as a skipper started being raised, specifically around the delay in bringing in R Ashwin, and letting Australia recover on day two.

It unravelled rather quickly in Brisbane and Melbourne as well. The criticism only grew louder, even more so when Rohit replaced KL Rahul at the top in Melbourne, displacing an in-form batter from his position to open again. It did not help: scores of 10, 9 & 3 have left his series average at 6.20. He’s got one run more than Bumrah’s wicket tally in the series, finding himself at the centre of all “walking wicket” jokes. The Australian media had a field day, with one back page branding him “cry baby”. With Ashwin bowing out midway through the series, the guns were ready to be trained on India’s next eldest member.

At press conferences, Rohit bore the look of a defeated man. “Yes, as a batter as well, a lot of things that I am trying to do are not falling into place,” he said after the MCG Test. “Mentally, it’s disturbing without a doubt”. The year-end loss brought his tally to six in a row. After two appearances, India look set to fail to qualify for the WTC final this time.

New year, new drama

Hours into 2025, a piece in the Indian Express – co-written by a journalist considered close to Rohit – described in detail coach Gautam Gambhir’s dressing room dressing down. On the eve of the Test, Rohit did not appear for the presser, with Gambhir being coy about his participation in the series decider. Rohit belatedly appeared in the nets, not participating in the slip cordon practice session and only facing throwdowns in a sweatshirt. Not too long after, media reports more or less confirmed his exclusion.

Within six months, Rohit has turned from a trophy-winning legend to a down-and-out captain dropped during an active Test series. He’s unlikely to feature in the next tour to England, still six months away. The Champions Trophy presents him with a golden opportunity to bid farewell on his own terms from a format that’s unarguably been his best out of the three.

The Rohit saga is a lesson that even the most coveted position in Indian cricket is never secure.

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