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India captain and Mumbai Indians (MI) veteran opener Rohit Sharma has divulged that he has faced unnecessary criticism during his distinguished 18-year career. Notably, Rohit announced retirement from Test cricket on May 7 and the huge development took a month prior to India’s five-Test assignment in England. The 38-year-old was facing criticism for his miserable batting and leadership performance in his last couple of Test series. Under him, India lost their maiden Test series at home against New Zealand after 69 years. Following that, the two-time World Test Championship (WTC) runners-up got humiliated in Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
In a recent interview with Vimal Kumar, when the India's ODI skipper was asked if criticism affected him, he replied, it doesn't impact him as he has been in the business for a long time and has made a tendency to tackle it effectively. “Maine kitna criticism jhela hai. Unnecessary criticism jhela hai. Agar affect karti hoti na player abhi ghar pe baitha hota. Bistar mein apne soya hota. Ki yaar mujhe toh criticise kiya jaa raha hai. Main nahin khel sakta. Yeh ho raha hai mere saath. poori duniya mere khilaaf hai. Arey mujhe yeh gaali de raha hai'. Yeh jo hai na, thick skin bolte hain na jisko yeh saare players mein built hai, build kiya hai unhone," remarked Rohit.
He also added, “Kisi ko karti hogi, kisi ko nahi karti hogi. Bohot se log hai jinko karti hogi. Mere ko toh kuch nahi hota hai abhi time bhi ho gaya hai naa itna. Toh dekho criticism jhelna ek sportsman ke life mein bohot zaruri hai.”
Rohit will keep serving India in One-Day Internationals (ODIs)
With his Test retirement, Rohit Sharma will now only be active in One-Day Internationals (ODI). It will be interesting to see whether the star opener will be able to serve India in the World Cup 2027, which will be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. His fans are eager to see him in India colours in the marquee ODI event, set to be held after two years.
In ICC’s white-ball tournaments, Rohit hasn’t won the ODI World Cup title as captain. Within the last 11 months, he has recorded victories in the last couple of limited-over ICC events, T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025.
