Former England captain Michael Atherton said that Rohit Sharma announced his Test retirement because he knew that his time was coming amid Team India's Test transition. The veteran batter officially parted ways with the format on May 7, ahead of the England tour, and the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC). There was considerable pressure on Rohit Sharma's status as captain as batter and captain following Team India's poor run of results in the format. The Men in Blue suffered a 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand at home, before losing 1-3 in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series in Australia, costing them a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final. Rohit Sharma's performances with the bat during the aforementioned series were also quite alarming. With only 31 runs in three Tests against Australia, he dropped himself from the decisive fifth Test in Sydney. There was speculation that Rohit Sharma is in the scheme of things for the England tour, especially after guiding Team India to the Champions Trophy 2025. However, Rohit Sharma decided to retire shortly after reports emerged that his captaincy and place in the playing XI were under threat. Atherton highlighted the same fact, opining that the veteran made the call after knowing that he could be sidelined in England. "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," Atherton said on Sky Sports (via India Today). "So that's speculation, we don't know, but ultimately the decision didn't come as a surprise because it's a bad combination for any captain, as you know, and as I know well if you're losing games, and you ain't 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's a bad combination for any captain," the former England captain added. Team India are in search of a new Test captain after Rohit Sharma's abrupt retirement. Shubman Gill is being viewed as a viable candidate given that he is the white-ball vice-captain, coupled with his leadership experience in the Indian Premier League (IPL). "It's a successful record, but not quite a stellar record" - Michael Atherton sums up Rohit Sharma's Test career In a career that spanned over a decade, Rohit Sharma had to wait for a significant time before being a bonafide part of the red-ball side. The right-handed batter was heading nowhere in the middle-order, before a push to the top of the order revived his career altogether. Although his recent numbers have blemished his overall record a touch, the Hitman managed to leave a legacy in the longest format as well. "I think people will look at him and his best format is ODI cricket. He's going to go down as one of the greatest ODI openers, isn't he? 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's a successful record, but not quite a stellar record," Atherton said. Rohit Sharma scored 4301 runs in 67 Tests at an average of 40.58, with 18 fifties and 12 hundreds to his name. He was appointed Team India's Test captain in 2022, and led the side to the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) Final.