Mumbai, May 8 -- "Hello everyone, I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket." It was through these words on his 43.6 million-strong Instagram handle on Wednesday evening that Rohit Sharma called time on his 67-match Test career. "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," Rohit said in his brief statement. Without the fanfare of a farewell match, a Test career which should have been so much more, has ended. So prodigiously talented was Rohit that at 19 in 2006, he was picked for India A even before he made his debut for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. A year later, he made his India debut in ODI cricket, a format he eventually dominated like few others in the game. His final outing as India Test captain was in the Boxing Day Test of Melbourne last year, where he could manage only 3 and 9. It was a torrid tour for him, one in which he got only 31 runs in 3 Tests. His poor form in Australia was an extension of a lean run in the home series against New Zealand. He was getting out to odd dismissals... his feet not always in sync with his hands; his timing off. So much so that Rohit owned up and dropped out of the final Test at Sydney. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir asked him to reconsider his decision to sit out of the Test but Rohit, low on confidence, stuck to his call, putting team interest ahead of his own. That decision by the Indian captain, however, convinced the selection committee that it was time they looked past Rohit for the new World Test Championship cycle. At that point, Rohit said there was no guarantee runs won't come five months down the line. "I have seen a lot in cricket that life changes every second, every minute, every day," he told the broadcasters. Rohit may have wanted to play on. He even featured in a Ranji tie for Mumbai in January. Unfortunately for him, the selectors had made up their mind that with his reflexes on the wane and fitness a constant challenge, it was time to move on. India will resume playing Test cricket without Rohit from the upcoming series in England, starting next month. Interestingly, it was in the 2021 tour of England that Rohit the Test batter proved his mettle. His 83 in the Lord's Test in a strong opening partnership with KL Rahul blended defense with grace. It was arguably his finest hour in Test whites. He followed it up it up with 127 in the Oval Test. For a batter best known for his back-foot game, his manner of coping with the moving Dukes ball stood out. In the final analysis, the late bloomer in Test cricket struggled away from home (1,766 runs, Avg 30.98). His home record, by comparison, was an impressive 2,535 runs at home at an average of 51.73. However, he scored 100% with his centuries - all 12 resulted in an Indian win, including the Oval knock in September, 2021. One will never know if Rohit's Test career would have had more heft -- he ended with 4,301 runs, averaging 40.57 -- if he hadn't missed a debut in 2010 due to a freak injury against South Africa. It took him another three years to finally get a debut, against West Indies at home in 2013, in the Sachin Tendulkar farewell series. But it was only in 2019 that his Test career truly took off. Against South Africa, he was promoted as opener with a nudge from the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri captain-coach combine. Rohit amassed 529 runs in the series, including his only career double ton. "From the time I picked him for India A and later for India as a 19-year-old, one thing that stood out was his ability to pick the lengths early," said Dilip Vengsarkar, former chairman of selectors. "He always had time on his side." Towards the back end of his Test career, Rohit finally ran out of runs and time. India will have a new captain in England with the selectors set to announce the squad in the coming days. Shubman Gill, already the vice-captain of the ODI and T20 teams, is the frontrunner. Rishabh Pant is the other contender, but there is a view that his high-risk game could impact his consistency as a batter in the future. As reported before, the selectors no longer want to burden Jasprit Bumrah with leadership as his workload requires constant monitoring....