Rohit Sharma’s retirement announcement had an MS Dhoni connection to it. The Mumbaikar took to Instagram on Wednesday (May 7), putting up a brief message on his story, alongside his Test cap to reveal that he would no longer play in the longest format for India. The time of Rohit’s message was 7:29 PM, coincidentally the exact same time as when Dhoni took to the same social media platform with a melancholy post on August 15, 2020. “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired,” Dhoni had written in his post. View this post on Instagram A post shared by M S Dhoni (@mahi7781) The coincidences in their careers don’t just end there. Dhoni and Rohit got to play their final Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia and their final home Test match at the Wankhede Stadium. Placing his Test cap number 280 in an Instagram story posted on Wednesday evening, Rohit wrote, “Hello everyone I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket. Its been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites. Thank you for all the love and support over the years. I will continue to represent India in the ODI format.” Rohit had struggled in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, which India lost 3-1. He averaged just 6.20 in five innings and also dropped himself for the final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Before that, Rohit had a forgettable time in India’s 3-0 home series defeat to New Zealand, averaging just 15.16. Rohit ends his Test career which began with a century on debut against the West Indies in Kolkata in 2013 with 4,301 runs coming from 67 Tests at an average of 40.57, including 12 centuries and 18 fifties. Rohit led India in 24 Tests, winning 12 and losing nine games. In June 2024, Rohit had announced his retirement from T20Is after India beat South Africa by seven runs to win the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup. With Rohit announcing retirement from Tests, Shubman Gill is the front-runner to be the next Test captain, as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee aims to infuse some new blood into the side. Gill, 25, had been the vice-captain in white-ball formats and with Jasprit Bumrah unlikely to be available for all five Test matches in England, he is very much primed to be India’s next Test captain. He is currently captaining Gujarat Titans (GT), who are on top of IPL 2025 points table. (With IANS inputs)