Legends never retires. Now who will lead the people roaming in garden

In the span of just a week, the pillars of India’s red-ball  Pillars have walked away from the longest format. On May 7, Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the test cricket followed by  Virat Kohli on 12^th May. Leaving behind their unmatched legacy.

Since his Test debut from 2011, Kohli’s Test career has nothing short of legendary.

Known for his aggressiveness, run scoring abilities, Kohli took up Test captaincy from 2014 when India was ranked 7^Th in ICC Test Rankings from there onwards he revolutionized Indian team. Notable moment came when he guided India to Border Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19 win becoming first Indian captain to win series in Australia home soil. He also guided India to No 1 in Test Ranking.

The 36-year-old played 123 Tests, amassing 9,230 runs at an average of 48.7, including 30 centuries and 31 fifties.

His final Test appearance came during the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, a series that was probably one of the lowest point in his career.

Despite a century in the opening Test in Perth, Kohli managed just 190 runs across five matches, with 85 runs coming in the last four Tests. India also lost 4-1 in that series too.

For Rohit Sharma as well,

Rohit, who was a T20I legend and continues to lead India in ODIs, saw his career in Tests spread out in two phases. He was handed his long-awaited debut in 2013, breaking into the scene against the West Indies. Rohit was a middle-order batter on the side back then and had a massive start to his career. And then, after being in and out and batting at several positions in the middle, he broke into the scene as an opener in the South Africa series at home in 2019. Rohit elevated his performance after donning the role so well in limited-over cricket.

Rohit played a total of 67 matches for India, scoring 4301 runs at an average of 40.57. In addition to 12 Test tons, he smashed 18 fifties with the best score of 212. Rohit led India in 24 Test matches, winning 12, losing nine, and drawing three. He scored 1254 runs as captain at an average of 30.58, smashing 4 tons and 4 fifties. As per ESPNcricinfo, Rohit played 38 matches as an opener. He amassed 9 hundreds and 8 fifties, scoring 2697 runs. 

Now who will lead the people roaming in the garden

While most experts reckoned Jaspreet Bumrah, the vice-captain, who had led India to their solitary win in Australia last November, would replace Rohit, the selectors are reportedly backing Gill for the role.

Gill’s coronation as the Test captain will take place on May 23 or 24, with the BCCI set to hold a press conference for the announcement. The 23-year-old has already met a few members of the Indian team management in this regard. The youngster is already the vice-captain in both the white-ball formats. He also has captaincy experience in the IPL, having led the Gujarat Titans since 2024.

But we would be still watching our two beloved heroes in ODI Colours. So lets enjoy the Pull shots & Cover drivers then in blues. Till then enjoy our 2 mins reads.