Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma declared their retirement from Test cricket this month. The first to do so was Rohit, who announced his retirement from Test matches on May 7 via an Instagram story. Virat confirmed the end of his Test career with an Instagram post just five days later.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both retired from Twenty20 Internationals around the same time. After winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, they both decided to end their T20I careers. Both have now withdrawn from Test play in advance of the 2025–2027 ICC World Test Championship cycle.
In addition to the previously mentioned coincidences, have a look at five more striking parallels between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s Test careers.
1. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli Made Test Debuts vs West Indies After ICC ODI Wins
Virat Kohli was a member of the 2011 ODI World Cup winning team. Later that year, the Delhi right-hander made his Test debut in Kingston against the West Indies.
In 2013, two years later, Rohit and India won the Champions Trophy. Rohit also got his first Test cap against the West Indies later in November of same year.
2. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma Played Their Final Home Test in Mumbai
Wankhede Stadium of Mumbai is a legendary cricket ground in the Indian cricket history. The stadium hosted the 2011 ODI World Cup Final where the Indians beat Sri Lankans in order to win the ultimate cup.
The venue had Sachin Tendulkar’s last Test played there as well and it now is also the stadium that hosted the last home Test of Virat and Rohit. Both of them last played their final home Test against New Zealand in Mumbai in November 2024.
3. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli got out for single-digit score in their last Test innings
At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Rohit Sharma faced Australia in his final Test match. Rohit returned from the 2024 Boxing Day Test with scores of 3 and 9. He was out in both innings by Pat Cummins.
Virat too faced Australia in his final Test match. Scott Boland got rid of him twice in two innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In his final inning, Virat scored six runs.
4. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s numbers in Bangladesh
The only nation where both Virat and Rohit participated in a Test match but failed to reach a half-century is Bangladesh. In three Test matches played in Bangladesh, Virat scored 59 runs, with a high of 24.
Only the away Test match against Bangladesh was played by Rohit. He scored six runs. Given that Bangladesh has consistently placed in the bottom half of the ICC Test Rankings, this statistic is a little unexpected.
5. Both recorded 1st win as captain against Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli started his Test captaincy career in late 2014 against Australia but he won his first Test match as a captain against Sri Lanka in 2015. Also, Sri Lanka series was Virat’s first task of being India’s full time Test Captain.
Rohit Sharma also began his captaincy stint with the Test series against Sri Lanka in the year 2022. India would win two Tests in the series, thus making a great start under Rohit’s leadership.
