New Delhi, Dec. 29 -- Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa believes Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's Test retirements weren't a "natural exit" and that they still had the ongoing World Test Championship cycle (WTC) 2025-2027 left in them.

Uthappa also felt Sharma should've taken a six-month break to work on his fitness and believed he would have scored runs after that.

After a disappointing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) last year against Australia, Ro-Ko announced retirement from the longest format of the game earlier this year. However, the duo also featured for their domestic sides in the last Ranji Trophy season (Kohli for Delhi and Sharma for Mumbai).

"I don't know about forced surrender, but it did not feel a natural exit. Sach toh ...