While all of India and the rest of the cricket world were left surprised by Rohit Sharma's retirement from Test cricket last week, there were a few who thought it was high time the decision was made.
One of those was former South African batter Daryll Cullinan.
Cullinan reckons Rohit's retirement from Tests won't be too big a loss for India on the England tour, given his not so flattering record away from home.
'Rohit's retirement was probably long overdue in terms of Test cricket away from India. Let's be honest about it. He hasn't really been the player that he throughout his career has been at home and we saw reluctance from him in recent Australian series to really take it on and lead from the front. So I don't see that as being a loss for India at all," Cullinan was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Days after Rohit Sharma's retirement, Kohli also drew curtains on his 14-year long Test career. India's batting will wear a slightly inexperienced look in the challenging conditions in England for the five-match Test series starting June 20.
Stating that India's strength now lies in the bowling attack, Cullinan said: 'India definitely have a realistic chance if all their bowlers are fit and they're able to see through the series. They're always going to be in with a chance. Ability to bowl teams out and there's depth in India's batting,' said Cullinan.
'But it's a great opportunity for young emerging players to really understand the authority on the game or what to be reckoned with now as future test stars. It's going to be a very interesting series for India, and it will highlight their game conditions, which a few won't be familiar with either with bat or ball.'
The 38-year-old Rohit was most prolific in the second half of his Test career, scoring 4,301 runs in 67 Tests with 12 hundreds and 18 half centuries at an average of 40.57.
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