Sunil Gavaskar says Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were not pushed into retirement after series loss against South Africa

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar has downplayed the idea that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were pushed into retirement by the team management after the series loss against South Africa. Gavaskar said the duo’s presence might not have saved India from the series loss as they suffered a 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand and then a 1-3 series loss against Australia when the duo was playing.

The Kiwis had dominated the Indian team and Kohli and Rohit had managed 93 and 91 runs in three Test matches respectively. After the home series, Kohli scored 190 runs in five Test matches at an average of 23.75 against Australia, whereas Rohit managed only 31 runs in five innings at 6.20.

Ahead of the England tour, both the batters decided to call time on their Test careers.

Gavaskar told India Today, “No, the call to take retirements must have been their call. Probably they might have been asked to consider their future. But we can’t say that had they been here, we would have won. They were there when we lost to New Zealand. What happened when they were there? We lost 0-3, no? Then what happened in Australia? We should not be thinking on these lines. No, we can’t be thinking whether we pushed them to retirement. That is the wrong way to approach this.”

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be seen in action in the three-match ODI series against South Africa. The duo is training in Ranchi, where the first game will be played on Sunday.

Rohit had top scored in the ODI series against Australia with 202 runs, Virat had scored 74 runs in the third ODI after bagging two ducks in the first two games. Rohit scored an unbeaten knock of 121 runs off 125 balls in the third ODI and played a key role in India’s comprehensive nine-wicket win.