Tag: Ajit

India is all set to be captained by Jasprit Bumrah in the fifth and final Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground starting Friday after skipper Rohit Sharma decided to give himself a rest. According to a report in The Indian Express, Rohit, 37, has spoken to head coach Gautam Gambhir and the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, informing them about his decision to ‘opt out’, which was met with a cordial response.

A day after the news of unrest in the Indian dressing room emerged, Rohit briefly appeared during India’s practice session on the eve of the final match of the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Shortly after, Gambhir dismissed those reports during the pre-match press conference but kept mum on whether Rohit would play tomorrow. “Everything is fine with Rohit and I don’t think it’s anything traditional. The head coach is here and that should be good enough. We are going to have a look at the wicket and finalise it tomorrow,” he said.

The reaction all but confirmed Rohit’s absence from the series decider, a belief that was strengthened even more as the day progressed. Gambhir, Rohit, and Bumrah were seen having a long chat during the nets, and while all batters had a long and extended session, Rohit’s batting was curtailed. He batted in India’s sweatshirt, which qualifies as nothing more than a warm-up drill.

At this stage, the man walking out for the toss tomorrow at 4.30 AM India time will likely be Bumrah, who led India to a dominating 295-run win in Perth in November. And rightly so. With the series on the line – India need to win the SCG Test to level the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy – no one better than Bumrah to get their hopes and campaign back on track. If Rohit indeed doesn’t turn up on Friday, the MCG Test could be his last as he is unlikely to continue in Tests in the fresh World Test Championship.

India need to win Sydney Test

Rohit’s ‘rest’ also paves the way for the return of Shubman Gill at No. 3. The India youngster, who, with scores of 28 and 31 in Adelaide, didn’t do much wrong to get dropped, unfortunately, had to be left out due to ‘combination’. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, who put on a record 201-run partnership at the Optus Stadium in the series opener, will open the innings.

Despite starting last year off on a high – drawing the Test series in South Africa and beating England 4-1, scoring two centuries, the second half of 2024 has been woeful for Rohit. His own form has dropped to an all-time low, with the skipper averaging 24.56 in Tests. He failed with the bat miserably, scoring 91 runs in three Tests against New Zealand as India suffered their first series defeat on home soil after 12 years.

To make matters worse, Rohit’s returns in Australia – 31 runs from 3 Tests, with scores of 3, 6, 10, 3 and 9 are the worst by a visiting batter Down Under. Rested or dropped, Rohit’s decision could be categorised as a first in the history of Indian cricket, as no captain has ever taken a backward step with so much on the line. India have had captains in the past – and pretty good ones – struggling for form, such as Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli – but never has the leader pulled out, especially when a series against Australia.

If this indeed is it for Rohit, he would end his Test career with India, having scored 4301 runs from 67 matches at an average of 40.57 with 12 centuries. Since taking over as captain of India’s Test team when Virat Kohli stepped down in January of 2022, Rohit has led India to high-profile series wins against Australia and England at home. Under him, India reached the final of the 2nd World Test Championship final, where they finished runner-up.