Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s Test career appears to be in limbo after he was left out of the side for the New Year’s Test in Sydney.
The 37-year-old never clicked into gear after arriving from personal leave for the second match of the series against Australia, averaging just 6.2 from five knocks with a high score of 10.
Rohit’s fate appeared sealed when coach Gautam Gambhir refused to guarantee his place in the XI on Thursday, before reports emerged he would “opt out” of the fifth and final match at the SCG from Friday.
Vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah, who captained India in the series-opener in Perth in Rohit’s absence, claimed the skipper had made the decision to stand down himself, rather than being forced out.
“Our captain has shown his leadership, he’s opted to rest in this game,” Bumrah said at the coin toss.
“So that shows there’s a lot of unity in our team, there’s no selfishness, whatever is in the team’s best interest, we are looking to do that.”
Shubman Gill, who was left out in Melbourne, took Rohit’s place in India’s line-up, while Prasidh Krishna was also named at the expense of Akash Deep, who was ruled out due to a back injury.
Rohit faces an uphill battle to play Test cricket again given he turns 38 in April, and India will not play again until June either on a tour of England or in the World Test Championship final.
Speaking on commentary for Fox Cricket during the opening session on day one, former Indian coach Ravi Shastri predicted Sharma would announce his retirement after the Sydney Test.
“It still is a brave call for a captain to own up and say, ‘I’m prepared to take the bench in this game,'” he said.
“If there was a home season coming up he might’ve thought of carrying on, but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test.
“He’s not getting younger … it’s not that India don’t have youngsters. There are very, very good players in the wings and it’s time to build.
“Tough decisions, but there is a time for everything.”
After six years around India’s white-ball set-up, Rohit burst onto the Test cricket scene during Sachin Tendulkar’s 2013 farewell tour in the West Indies.
Ravi Shastri coached Rohit Sharma during his tenure in charge of India between 2017 and 2021. (Getty Images: Tharaka Basnayaka)
He produced a player-of-the match performance on debut at Eden Gardens, where he belted a stunning 177 in his first innings with the bat — the second-highest score for an Indian Test player on debut.
His recent form concerns had pre-dated the tour of Australia; he made only one score above 50 in India’s memorable 3-0 home series loss to New Zealand during October and November.
Rohit managed only one double-digit score in four innings against Bangladesh during the series before that.
He has averaged 40.57 across his 67 Tests with 12 centuries to his name, but none on any of his four tours of Australia.
The drama about Rohit’s spot in the side continued a turbulent tour at the selection table for the visitors, who were forced to contend with the mid-series retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin after the drawn Gabba Test.
Rohit has not been the only big-name Indian batter to struggle for runs this series, with Virat Kohli averaging 12.4 across five innings since an unbeaten century in the series opener.
Blockbuster wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is also yet to pass 50 this series.
AAP/ABC
