Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, who handed Rohit Sharma a Test match opportunity in the 2013-14 home series against the West Indies after the then middle-order batsman spent six years as a limited-overs player, felt both “sad” and “great” on Wednesday after hearing the news of the current India captain’s retirement from Test cricket. “Sad, because Rohit should have played a lot more Tests [than 67], and I feel great because he has taken his Test retirement call at the right time. Cricket is all about timing and Rohit’s timing here is absolutely perfect,” Patil told mid-day. 

Patil’s committee which included Roger Binny (South Zone), Syed Saba Karim (East Zone), Vikram Rathour (North Zone) and Rajinder Singh Hans (Central Zone), was immediately proved right as Rohit scored a Test debut 177 against the touring West Indies team at Kolkata and followed it up with 111 not out in the Mumbai Test, where the legendary Sachin Tendulkar bid farewell to the game.