Hyderabad: Two star batters and former Indian captains, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, took a sudden retirement from Test cricket ahead of the series against England last week. Already, there were discussions around the decline of Rohit’s form in Test cricket. Also, there were reports that Kohli had informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he wants to retire from the longest format, and they had urged him to reconsider his decision.
Both the batters have played some decisive innings for India in Test cricket. However, a sudden exit from Tests before the upcoming England series starting from June 20 caused them to miss out on some records they might have achieved in red-ball cricket.
The following are the feats Rohit and Kohli might have achieved if they had played the England series. Also, it includes the milestones which both players were very close to achieving.
Most sixes for India in Tests
Star India batter and former India captain Rohit Sharma missed out on an opportunity to become the Indian batter to hit the most sixes. Virender Sehwag has hit 90 sixes in his career spanning 103 Tests. At the time of his retirement, Rohit had hit 88 sixes from 116 innings. Thus, he was just three sixes away from etching his name in the record books.
MS Dhoni (78), Rishabh Pant (73) and Ravindra Jadeja (69) comprise the list of the top five batters to hit the most maximums for India in Test cricket.
Most sixes in Tests played in India
Rohit has come up short of the first position in this list as well, with a close margin. Sehwag has hit 58 sixes while Rohit finished with 55 maximums to his name in the Test matches played in India. Thus, four more sixes would have made him the batter with the most sixes in the red-ball matches played in India.
Most sixes in Test matches held in India
| Player | Sixes |
| Virender Sehwag | 58 |
| Rohit Sharma | 55 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 51 |
| MS Dhoni | 41 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 36 |
Ravindra Jadeja (51), MS Dhoni (41) and Sachin Tendulkar (36) comprise the five batters. India will play a home Test series against West Indies in October, and so Rohit might have taken down this record as well.
A century at Lord’s Cricket Ground
Despite showing an extraordinary consistency in Test cricket, this is one of the rarest feats Kohli missed during his illustrious Test career. The right-handed batter scored 1096 Test runs from 33 innings with an average of 33.21. His tally includes two centuries in Birmingham and Nottingham. Thus, the 36-year-old signed off from Test cricket without a century at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Also, his battle against James Anderson in Test cricket was quite popular. Kohli amassed 1991 Test runs with an average of 42.36 against England in his career, and the matchup against Anderson was one of the most discussed topics in the cricket fraternity.
Test Series win in England
Leading the Indian team to a Test series win in England was another feat missed in his successful career as captain of the Indian Test team. Ajit Wadekar, Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid are the three captains to have led India to a victory in the Test series in England so far.
Captains who led India to a Test series win in England
| Captain | Year | Scoreline |
| Ajit Wadekar | 1971 | 1-0 (3) |
| Kapil Dev | 1986 | 2-0 (3) |
| Rahul Dravid | 2007 | 1-0 (3) |
Kohli had come agonisingly close to becoming the fourth Indian captain to do so during England’s tour to India 2021-22 when the series was levelled at 2-2. However, the fifth and final Test of the series was postponed due to rising COVID cases in the Indian camp.
