Rohit Sharma, on Thursday (May 8), hit back at “unnecessary criticism” he has faced throughout his illustrious career. Rohit’s comment came a day after his shock retirement from Test cricket. The 38-year-old made the announcement on social media just days before the selectors could announce the squad for the upcoming Test series in England.

Speaking to journalist Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel, Rohit was asked if criticisms does affect a player. The former India Test captain said that even though criticisms are a part of an athlete’s life, and deemed it necessary, players tend to develop a thick skin to deal with the outside noise.

However, Rohit admitted that he does not like “unnecessary criticism,” before opening up on a few he incurred during his career, mostly about his weakness against left-arm pacers.

“Criticism is a part of a sportsperson’s life. Criticism is necessary and important. But what I’m against is unnecessary criticism. I don’t like it. Unnecessary criticism, I mean, there was no need to say all that. There were a lot of things said about me. But I don’t pay attention to any of it, and it doesn’t affect me. So many things have been said about me — like I can’t play left-arm fast bowlers, and many other things — but now, I don’t pay attention to it anymore. Now, if you go and defend it, a lot of things might go wrong. And you will be losing out on time, and time is precious. My work is to attack,” he said.

Rohit retired from Test cricket

The India opener drew curtains on his Test career on Wednesday (May 7) “with immediate effect,” with a little more than a month remaining for India’s tour of England, which will be their first assignment of the World Test Championship’s (WTC) 2025-2027 cycle. However, he confirmed that he will remain part of the ODI cricket, with BCCI revealing he will continue as the leader in the format.

“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,” he posted on Instagram with a picture of his Test cap.