‘Sign of retirement?’: Rohit Sharma’s gloves act after Gabba dismissal sparks internet speculation about his Test future

India captain Rohit Sharma‘s woeful run continued in Test cricket as he nicked off to Pat Cummins in the opening half hour on Day 4 of the third Tet match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Brisbane. Rohit departed for just 10 runs off 27, adding to India’s forgettable batting show in the match. However, following his dismissal, he sparked retirement speculations among fans with his gloves act.

Batting at No. 6 for a third straight innings in the ongoing series, Rohit looked rather comfortable at the crease, showing patience to wait for the ball of his choice to play a shot. But the 37-year-old was eventually undone by that no-feet movement shot, a bane of his throughout this series. Cummins pitched a fuller delivery close to the off stump, and Rohit poked at it with hard hands, and wicketkeeper Alex Carey did the rest behind the stumps.

Following the dismissal, as a disappointed Rohit made his way back to the pavilion, he left his gloves in front of the dug out, just behind the advertisement board.

As the sight got highlighted on social media, it sparked a furore with fans speculating that Rohit hinted at the end of his Test career. The veteran India batter earlier announced his retirement from T20I cricket after leading the team to the T20 World Cup title win in June this month. There have also been speculations that Rohit will likely remove himself from the ODI format as well after the Champions Trophy next year in February, where India will reportedly play their matches in Dubai, while the rest of the tournament will be hosted in Pakistan.

Rohit Sharma’s lean run of form

Rohit did have an impressive start to the calendar year, where he scored two centuries against England in a home Test series. However, since the start of India’s long Test calendar in September, he has scored only 152 runs in 13 innings, comprising a solitary half-century score. He recorded one of his worst-ever performances in a home series both against Bangladesh and New Zealand, before scoring only 19 runs in three innings in the Australia tour, where has been pushed down the order to No. 6, to make way for in-form KL Rahul as an opener.

If Rohit fails to script a comeback in the remaining two Test matches of the series, the selectors might be forced to think otherwise when India’s next WTC cycle begins in July.