London [UK], May 10 (ANI): Former England skipper Michael Atherton gave his verdict on Indian batter and skipper Rohit Sharma's Test career following his retirement from the format, saying that his numbers make him a 'successful, but not quite a stellar' player in whites.

On May 7, Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket after a career spanning 67 Tests and 11 years, ahead of the England tour, kickstarting India's ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle from June 20 onwards.

Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Atherton said, 'I think people will look at him and his best format is ODI cricket. He is going to go down as one of the greatest ODI openers, is he not? But a funny Test career. He had to wait for a long time to get in and then almost a career of two halves in Test cricket, averaging just a tick over 40 in the end with a dozen hundreds, means it is a successful record, but not quite a stellar record,' Atherton said.

Rohit made his Test debut against the West Indies in November 2013 and went on to represent India in 67 Tests. He amassed 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score of 212 came during a memorable home series against South Africa in 2019. He finishes as India's 16th-highest run-getter in the longest format.

He kick-started his Test journey with a memorable 177 against the West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2013. Despite immense promise and some great knocks, the 'Hitman' initially struggled to solidify himself as a top-choice batter in the longer format, especially in tours away from home. From 2013-18, Rohit played just 27 Tests, scoring 1,585 runs at an average of 39.63, with three centuries and 10 fifties in 47 innings. His best score was 151. The right-hander struggled away from home, particularly in testing South Africa, England, New Zealand and South Africa (SENA) countries. Success in these nations is often considered a hallmark of a great Indian batter.

However, with twin centuries against South Africa at Visakhapatnam in 2019, Rohit revived his Test career, as an opener. In 40 Tests during the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) history, he made 2,716 runs at an average of 41.15, with nine centuries and eight fifties. His best score was 212. He is India's top run-getter, century maker in WTC history, and overall at 10th among top run-getters. He led India to the final of the WTC against Australia in the UK in 2023, where they lost.

However, Atherton questioned if Rohit's retirement was his own decision fully or if he got a sense that he could be pushed out of the team after months of battling poor form, managing just 164 runs in his final eight Tests with a fifty.

'Was that retirement completely his own decision, or did he get a sense that he's about to be pushed, or the axe was coming because there was a report, the day before the announcement from Rohit, that the selectors had decided to move on,' said Atherton.

'So that is speculation, we do not know, but ultimately the decision did not come as a surprise because it is a bad combination for any captain, as you know, and as I know well if you are losing games, and you are not getting any runs, and India had lost 5 out of the last 6 matches under Rohit's captaincy. Three against New Zealand and a couple in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and his form had really tailed off, and of course, that is a bad combination for any captain,' he concluded. (ANI)