Rohit Sharma writes disgraceful record after double defeat in Melbourne as merciless fans say ‘happy retirement’

Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s horror streak continued on the fifth day of the fourth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. The 37-year-old suffered a double failure in Melbourne and set an ignominious record. Following the dismissal before lunch after setting India a target of 340, fans on social media brutally attacked Rohit with posts about “happy retirement”.

Rohit has been in a miserable state since September, when India’s Test calendar for the season began. In the three series he has played so far, two of them at home, he has scored just 164 runs in 15 innings at a shocking average of just 10.93, with a half-century score. Of these, 31 runs came on the current tour of Australia, in which he only managed a double-digit score.

Rohit’s average was just 6.20 at the end of the double defeat in Melbourne, the lowest batting average ever for a touring captain in a Test series in Australia (at least five innings). Previously, the record belonged to West Indian bowling legend Courtney Walsh, who averaged just 7.75 during the 1996-97 tour of Australia.

After Australian captain Pat Cummins was sacked for the fourth time in the ongoing series, fans on social media brutally attacked Rohit as ‘Happy Retirement’ was trending on X.

Will Rohit Sharma retire at the end of the MCG Test?

After Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement, there were rumors in the media that another big-name player would retire from the sport during or at the end of the Australian tour. And with Rohit struggling to find his rhythm, speculation is rife that the 37-year-old could be next to call time on his Test career.

Australian great Mark Waugh felt this should happen before the start of the fifth and final Test in Sydney next week, where he would prefer Jasprit Bumrah to lead India.

“If I were a selector now, it depends on what happens in the second innings, but if he doesn’t score any runs in the second innings and we go to Sydney in a crucial Test match, I would say, ‘Rohit, thank you very much for that.’ “Your services, you were a great player but we are going to sign Jasprit Bumrah as captain for the SCG and that is the end of your career,” he told Fox Cricket on Sunday.

“…it would be a very tough road for Rohit Sharma…his last 14 innings is at an average of 11, so there are signs that he has given his best. This happens to all players. All great players come to an end at some point.