New Delhi [India] May 16 : India team's former head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed what he would have told Rohit Sharma ahead of the final match of the Test series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which the then skipper did not play.
Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket earlier this month.
Rohit's lean patch with the bat in the Test format led to the 38-year-old sitting out the Border-Gavaskar series decider at the SCG in January.
Shastri talked about a conversation he had with Rohit at an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 fixture and prior to Hitman's Test retirement.
"I saw Rohit a lot at the toss. At the toss, you don't get enough time to speak. Though I did put my hand on his shoulder in one of the games. I think it was in Mumbai, and I told him, if I was the coach, you would have never not played that last Test match. You would have played that last Test match because the series wasn't over," Shastri told ICC Review.
"And I'm not someone who threw in the towel with the scoreline 2-1. If your mindset is you feel you are... that's not the stage, you leave a team."
Rohit didn't play the first test against Australia due to personal reasons, In his rest three outings, Rohit only made 31 runs before opting out from the last Test. In his last eight Tests, which included home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, Rohit was able to cross the 50-run mark only once, averaging 10.93.
Shastri believes Rohit is a match-winner and he would've pushed for his inclusion in Sydney, with the series poised at 2-1.
"That was a 30-40 run game. And that's exactly what I told him. The pitch was so spicy in Sydney. Whatever kind of form he was in, he's a match-winner," said Shastri.
Shastri believes that if Rohit would have smashed 35-40 at the top, the series would have been levelled.
"If he had gone, sensed the situation, sensed the condition and smashed it for even 35-40 at the top, you never know. That series would have been level. But that's each one to his own."
"Other people have different styles. This would have been my style, and I let him know it. It's sitting in my heart for a long time. I had to get it out. And I told him that," he added.
Rohit took to social media earlier this month to announce that he is bidding farewell to the red-ball format. "Hello everyone, I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket. It's 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," he said.
The 38-year-old embarked on a voyage and represented India in 67 Tests, striking 4,301 runs from his bat at an average of 40.57, with 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries. Rohit dazzled with a knock of 212 during a home series against South Africa in 2019.