Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket effective immediately. How can India replace him at the top of the order for the upcoming England tour?
India's five-Test series against England starts on June 20, around a month after the end of IPL 2025. Rohit's retirement leaves the Indian think tank with two major questions to answer: who replaces him as captain, and who replaces him as opener? The answer to both questions may or may not be the same, with several scenarios possible. In the context of this piece, we'll largely limit the discussion to Rohit's replacement as a batter.
The two straightforward options at India's disposal are, the ever flexible KL Rahul, who opened in Test cricket as recently as the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and Shubman Gill, who started his Test career as an opener.
These two, apart from the regular opening pair of Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal, have been the only four players who have opened batting for India in Tests since the start of 2023. Going another year back, Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal get added to that list, but both have been out of the national setup for two and three years respectively, making a case for comeback highly improbable.
KL Rahul or Shubman Gill?
Rahul has played a majority - 48 out of 58 - of his Tests at the top of the order, having only recently made a shift to the middle order. With Rohit not being available for the first Test against Australia, he had to move back up to partner Jaiswal. Rahul made such an impression with two classy knocks on a tough Perth surface that he managed to retain his spot at the top despite Rohit's return in the second Test in Adelaide.
His form eventually tailed off as the series progressed, finishing with 276 runs at 30.66, but the skill and adaptability he displayed could tempt selectors and coaches to continue with him at the top. Another aspect that goes in his favour is his past record as opener in England. From eight Tests, Rahul has scored 597 runs at 37.31 in England - the second most by any Indian opener in the country after Sunil Gavaskar.
The other major candidate with Test opening experience is Gill, who has now established himself at No.3. Gill made the move from opening to one-drop after the 2023 WTC final and has played 16 Tests in that position, averaging 37.38. As an opener, Gill averages 32.37, which drops down to 14.66 from three Tests in England. Since moving down to No.3, Gill has not batted outside that number even once. Compare that to Rahul's flexibility and it looks unlikely that Gill will be moved back up.
Also read: If Shubman Gill can't have it all, who can?
Does Sai Sudharsan have a chance?
India also have the option of looking beyond both Gill and Rahul as opening partners for Jaiswal and pick the uncapped Sai Sudharsan to replace Rohit as opener.
The left-hander's stature has grown over the last couple of years, wth performances in all formats. He made his ODI debut last year in South Africa, scoring two fifties in three games and has been on a brilliant run in the ongoing IPL season, batting at a strike rate above 150 while largely playing classical cricket. However, the more relevant numbers are his returns in county cricket. Sudharsan has played five games for Surrey across the 2023 and 2024 County Championship seasons, scoring 281 runs at 35.12 including a hundred against Nottinghamshire. He had also scored a hundred for India A against Australia A before the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Also read: Sai Sudharsan can be an all-format star if only there's a chance
Sudharsan was already expected to be part of the Test squad even in the presence of Rohit. In his absence now, there's a decent chance he might get to feature in the XI right away.
The only other candidate India have to replace Rohit with is Abhimanyu Easwaran. The right-hander from Bengal has been part of India's Test squads on multiple occasions now, including the latest one against Australia, but is yet to get a game. He boasts of a first-class record of 7,674 runs at 48.87 from 101 games, but has previously been overtaken by players initially below him in the pecking order. It would hardly be a surprise if that happens again with Sudharsan having risen through the ranks.
How could India's bowling attack affect their choice of opener?
Assuming the likely possiblity that Gill continues in his preferred No.3 spot and Easwaran is considered only as a backup (or maybe not at all), the choice will essentially come down to Rahul and Sudharsan. Rahul with his experience holds the edge, but India's choice of bowling attack will also be a factor in choosing Sudharsan and Rahul.
If India stick to their all-rounder-heavy approach with Rishabh Pant at five, Ravindra Jadeja at six, and two of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, and Shardul Thakur at seven and eight, Rahul can slot straight back in at the top and Sudharsan would have to wait. The other path India can take is to pick only one out of Reddy, Sundar, and Shardul at eight, open with Sudharsan, and slot Rahul in the middle-order, at six.
There's also the left-field possibility of Rahul opening, Sudharsan starting at three, and Gill moving down to six, but with Gill potentially being the frontrunner to take over as captain, it's unlikely that he would push himself down the order.
If Gill is, indeed, named captain, it could potentially play into Sudharsan's hand since the two have spent a lot of time together at the top of the order for Gujarat Titans and Gill would know his strengths inside out.
Whichever direction India take, they'll be entering into a new era without Rohit Sharma - who until recently was one of, if not the best Test opener going around.
Predicted India batting lineup for first England Test: Sai Sudharsan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja.
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