Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma has revealed the reason behind dropping himself from the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year.
In a dramatic turn of events, it was Jasprit Bumrah who walked out for the toss in Sydney and confirmed Rohit’s exclusion from the playing XI. Bumrah said, “Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest. That shows there’s a lot of unity in this team. There’s no selfishness. Whatever is in the team’s best interest we are looking to do that.”
Speaking about the decision on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, Rohit said: “I have to be honest to myself, I wasn’t hitting the ball well – we somehow wanted Gill to play, he is such a good player, he missed out on the previous Test – I spoke to the coach, the selector – they kind of agreed, not agreed – you try to put the team first and what team wants, make the decision accordingly – that is how it goes.”
Shubman Gill replaced Rohit in the playing XI.
In the build-up to the series, Rohit had been struggling for form, averaging just 10.93 over his last nine Tests. The 37-year-old endured a nightmare series, managing only 31 runs across five innings.
Australia went on to win the Test in Sydney by six wickets, sealing the series 3-1 and reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years.