Boria Majumdar
I did a piece on Rohit Sharma yesterday in which I made two fundamental points. First, no one can ask anyone to retire. It is entirely a personal call, and only Rohit can decide when he wants to exit the stage. He can very well be dropped if he doesn’t score runs, but to say he should retire is way off the mark.
Second, I argued that the only thing of relevance here is performance. Not reputation, not age, not anything else. As long as Rohit scores runs, he will have control of his fate. If he doesn’t, the selectors are well within their rights to drop him.
Many have responded to the piece and shared their opinions on retirement. While it is impossible to respond to every comment, let me make the moot point one more time: age isn’t even relevant here.
Luka Modrić played at the World Cup for a record sixth time. Yes, he wasn’t his usual self, but he continued to play on. The decision to pick him was the manager’s. But to offer himself for selection was entirely Modrić’s call.
I would argue the very same thing for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Messi has won everything in the game. That he is the greatest is now largely accepted. And yet, after the World Cup, he went back to Inter Miami and continues to play on.
How many will say, ‘What more does he have to prove?’ The counter-question is: why should he leave? He is there purely on merit, and if Inter Miami don’t want him in the team, let them drop him.
The very same applies to Rohit. To ask what he will achieve by playing on for a couple more series is a banal argument. He can choose to play on for one game or 100 more. That call is his. Whether or not he is picked is a different matter altogether.
He has clearly worked on his fitness and is leaner than ever. He is fielding well, and some of his efforts in England stood out. All of this points to his desire to play on. He clearly has the passion. Why else would he continue?
To ask for his retirement is to ask for something over which you don’t even have a say.
Will he be there for the 2027 World Cup? That is the question doing the rounds. The answer entirely depends on his ability to score big runs consistently. If he does, he will be around. If he doesn’t, the selectors have every right to look beyond him and turn to Yashasvi Jaiswal.
For anyone to claim they know Rohit won’t be picked is pure kite-flying. The selectors don’t know either. They will have to base their judgement on whether he continues to score or not. Second, there could be changes in the selection committee, and the new committee will have to take this call.
As I said yesterday, asking Rohit to retire is a nice social-media talking point. You will surely get numbers, but nothing more than that.
Follow Revsportz for latest sports news
The post Rohit Sharma’s Retirement Is His Call, Not Ours appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.
