India’s captain was dismissed for scores of 3,6,10, 3, and 9 in the five innings of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. With such poor performance and notably unproductive 2024 in terms of test cricket, speculations rise about his future in the longest format played by him.
Rohit Sharma, the captain of Team India, after having an average score of 6.2, has chosen “to rest” for the fifth test against Australia in Sydney. According to Bumrah, who is set to lead the team again in Sydney. Shubman Gill, who was dropped for the Brisbane and Melbourne test, has replaced Rohit Sharma and will slot in at no 3.
However, the reason for the change in leadership was not directly addressed at the toss at the SCG, with Bumrah only saying, “Our captain has shown his leadership as well, he has chosen to rest from this game. It shows the unity within the team. There’s no selfishness. Whatever is in the team’s best interest we are looking to do that. Two changes, Rohit has opted to rest and Akash Deep is injured so Prasidh Krishna comes in.” Moreover, Team India won the toss and opted to bat first.
India was captained to victory by Bumrah in the first Test of the series in Perth when Rohit was on paternity leave. After Rohit’s return to captaincy, India lost two tests against Australia in Adelaide and Melbourne, while the Brisbane test ended in a draw, thus trailing the series by 1-2. With 619 runs in 26 innings across 14 test matches, 2024 proved to be an unproductive year for Rohit.
Rumors around Rohit’s place in the playing XI and his retirement prevailed after India lost the fourth Melbourne test. Further, on the eve of the fifth test in Sydney, coach Gautam Gambhir didn’t confirm or deny Rohit’s place in the playing XI – he only said that the playing XI would be decided before the toss, after monitoring the pitch. Rohit even didn’t have active training sessions as his teammates.
Well, there’s no doubt that Rohit Sharma didn’t have the best runs with the bat in the ongoing series, and now the opting out of Hitman hints strongly at his retirement. Will he retire as Ashwin did in the Brisbane test? We have to wait and watch.
Australia and India Playing XI
- Australia (Playing XI): Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
- India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj.
If Australia have to win their place in the final at Lord’s against South Africa they have to seal the series by 2-1 or 3-1. On the other hand, India requires a win to remain relevant for WTC final qualification scenarios. However, their final qualification now depends on Sri Lanka who have to win both tests against Australia in their upcoming two-match series.
