Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin were all modern greats for India in Test cricket. Yet, their final red-ball matches were on foreign soil. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 marked the end of their careers.
No farewell for India’s modern-day greats
Ashwin retired midway through the 5-match series in Australia. Speculations suggested that the spinner didn’t want to warm the bench at that stage of his career. Following Washington Sundar‘s meteoric rise, there was doubt over Ashwin’s place, both home and away. So, he hung up his boots after the Adelaide Test.
As for Rohit and Kohli, both retired in May 2025. Reports suggested that, similar to Ashwin, they could be rested or even dropped for the upcoming Test tour of England. The senior batters also bid Test cricket adieu, just one month before the series began.
BCCI needs to learn from ECB
Monty Panesar thinks it’s a travesty that neither got the Test farewell at home. The former England spinner cited James Anderson and Stuart Broad as examples. The two of England’s greatest bowlers got their own goodbye at home, Broad at The Oval in July 2023 and Anderson at Lord’s in July 2024, with their family and loved ones present.
Panesar criticised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for not doing something similar for Rohit, Kohli, and Ashwin. While it’s not common for Indian players to get a farewell, cricketers of their stature deserve the respect for serving the team for over a decade.
“The BCCI should have planned farewell Test matches for R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli. They deserved that respect. England celebrates its players when they retire — for example, Stuart Broad and James Anderson were given great farewells — but India falls short in this regard,” Panesar told IANS.
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