“This decision is not a retirement decision,” he told Star Sports. “Nor am I going to take myself out of the game. I sat out of this match because runs are not coming off my bat. There is no guarantee runs won’t come five or two months down the line.

“I have seen a lot in cricket that life changes every second, every minute, every day. I have confidence in me that things can change, but at the same time I have to be realistic as well.

“So life won’t change by what people with a mic, pen or laptop write or say. They can’t decide when we should retire, when we should sit out, when we should captain. I am a sensible man, mature man, father of two kids. So I know what I need in life.”

Rohit joined the squad midway through the Perth Test following the birth of his son. After initially slotting into the middle order to accommodate KL Rahul at the top, Rohit went back to open in the Boxing Day Test following scores of 3,6 and 10. But scores of 3 and 9 later, speculation was rife about an impending retirement even as Australia took a 2-1 lead.

“The chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple: my bat is not scoring runs, I am not in form, this is an important match, and we need players who are in form,” he explained. “As it is, the boys are not in great form. So I had this simple thought in my mind: we can’t carry out-of-form players.

“That’s why I thought I should tell the coach and the selector what’s going on in my mind. They backed my decision. They said you have been playing for so many years, you are the best judge of what you are doing.”