Rohit Sharma announces retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect

Rohit Sharma on Wednesday announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect ending all speculations about his future in the longest format.

The 38-year-old was India's most prolific Test batter in the second half of his career, scoring 4301 runs in 67 Tests with 12 hundreds and 18 half centuries at an average of 40.57.

Having already retired from T20 Internationals after the World Cup last year, Rohit will now only be seen in the ODI format for India.

"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 posted on Instagram with a picture of his Test cap.

Rohit captained India to the World Test Championship final against Australia and save the last couple of indifferent series against New Zealand at home and the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia.

India will have a new Test captain for the five-Test series in England with possible candidates being Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.

Rohit endured a particularly difficult run during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where he had to drop himself from the playing XI owing to poor form but he had ruled out retirement at that stage.

There was also widespread speculation about his differences with Head Coach Gautam Gambhir, who had vowed to end the "star culture" in Indian cricket after taking charge last year in July.

Both steadfastly denied the chatter but Gambhir has time and again made it clear that only performance would ensure selection in the team.