Rohit ended his Test career with 4,301 runs coming from 67 matches.
Rohit called time on his Test career on May 7, ahead of India's upcoming England tour that marks the start of their WTC 2025-27 cycle from June 20.
The 38-year-old ended his Test career with 4,301 runs coming from 67 matches at an average of 40.57, including 12 centuries and 18 fifties. He led India in 24 Tests, winning 12 and losing nine games.
"I think people will look at him and his best format is ODI cricket. He is going to go down as one of the greatest ODI openers, is he not? But a funny Test career. He had to wait for a long time to get in and then almost a career of two halves in Test cricket, averaging just a tick over 40 in the end with a dozen hundreds, means it is a successful record, but not quite a stellar record," Atherton said on Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
Rohit's Test journey began with an impressive 177 against West Indies at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2013. Between 2013-18, he featured in 27 Tests, scoring 1,585 runs at an average of 39.63 with three centuries and 10 fifties.
After an underwhelming start, Sharma revived his Test career as an opener with two centuries against South Africa at Vizag in 2019.
In the WTC era, Rohit played 40 Tests and amassed 2,716 runs at an average of 41.15 with nine hundreds and eight half-centuries. He ranks as India's highest run-scorer and century-maker in WTC history.
Atherton was not surprised by Rohit's retirement decision, considering his poor show in red-ball cricket lately.
"Was that retirement completely his own decision, or did he get a sense that he's about to be pushed, or the axe was coming because there was a report, the day before the announcement from Rohit, that the selectors had decided to move on," Atherton stated.
"So that is speculation, we do not know, but ultimately the decision did not come as a surprise because it is a bad combination for any captain, as you know, and as I know well if you are losing games, and you are not getting any runs, and India had lost 5 out of the last 6 matches under Rohit's captaincy. Three against New Zealand and a couple in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and his form had really tailed off, and of course, that is a bad combination for any captain," he added.