[WATCH] Rohit Sharma makes special appearance at Kennington Oval during ENG vs IND 5th Test

Going into the third day of the fifth Test between England and India at the Kennington Oval in South London, the visitors effectively had a lead of 52 runs with eight wickets in hand. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Akash Deep were at the crease. The sun was out, and it was important for the Blue Brigade to put a huge score on the board in the third innings.

However, the biggest surprise of the morning session came when, during the first hour of the play, Rohit Sharma, the former Indian captain, arrived at the ground to enjoy the live action. The cameras ran behind the veteran, who decided to announce his retirement from the longest format just before the start of the series.

See Also: [WATCH] Former players react to incident between Akash Deep and Ben Duckett during ENG vs IND 5th Test

Rohit had already hung up his boots from the shortest format last year after winning the T20 World Cup, leaving him with only the 50-over format as he looked forward to keeping himself fit and in rhythm for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa. After Rohit, Virat Kohli also retired from the five-day format.

Watch: Rohit Sharma appears at Kennington Oval during ENG vs IND 5th Test

The Mumbai batter didn’t enjoy his last red-ball series in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. He missed the first game at the Optus Stadium during their victory. However, after three poor games in the middle of the series, he decided to stand down from his captaincy and the playing eleven as Jasprit Bumrah led the side.

Coming into the ongoing Oval Test, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who celebrated his fifty last evening, has scored 80 runs in 93 balls with 10 boundaries and two sixes. But the man of the first hour of the third day has been Akash Deep, who, with his aggressive nature, smashed 39 runs in 63 balls.

The batting of the nightwatchman has frustrated the home team, who have already dropped the Bengal pacer once, when Zak Crawley fumbled the ball at the slip region. India had already got a lead of over 115 runs, which put incredible pressure on captain Ollie Pope’s shoulders.