Former India batter Jatin Paranjape has revealed that Rohit Sharma was offended when his credibility and devotion towards Test cricket were questioned at one point in his career, and he wondered how people could say he wasn’t interested in Tests when he had begun playing with the red ball first. Rohit‘s sudden retirement from Tests ahead of the England series caught many by surprise, not least because it came without a farewell match or a prolonged dip in fitness. The decision surprised many, including Paranjpe, who has now given a glimpse into the mindset of a young cricketer who wanted to represent the team in all formats. “I remember he was not playing Tests for India. And we had this conversation and he said, ‘I started playing cricket with a red ball, Jatin. How can you say that I am not interested in Test cricket?’ I got the message and I was hoping that that was what he would say,” Paranjpe said while speaking on the A Century of Stories podcast. “Yeah, yeah (if Rohit was offended). The perspective he gave me made me sit up and think. His point of view was that ‘I’ve grown up playing with the red ball, how can I be far away from it?’ That’s, again, his unique perspective,” Paranjpe said. Rohit had struggled for years to crack into India’s Test setup because of injuries and inconsistent form. But when former India head coach Ravi Shastri backed him as an opener six years back, everything changed. That one tactical switch revitalised Rohit’s red-ball career. “That’s the big moment. I remember I was part of the selection committee at that time. That was Ravi Shastri’s idea. Superb thinker. Ravi is 3–4 steps ahead of everybody when it comes to reading the game,” Paranjpe said. Recently, former Windies cricketer Brian Lara called Rohit a legend. The latter has accumulated 19700 runs in 499 international games at an average of 42.18. Paranjpe said that India could have levelled the Australia series had Rohit not stood down from the last Test in Sydney. “He said he lives for Tests. I think Rohit could have done a lot more in Tests. I think he would be the first one to say that as well. I was a little bit disappointed that he chose to drop himself in Sydney because we could have levelled the series,” Paranjpe said.