Rohit Sharma, the designated Indian captain, didn’t feature in the team’s playing XI for the fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Rohit struggled for runs in Test cricket last year, amassing 619 runs in 26 innings at an average of 24.76. He was all over the place in the ongoing BGT, managing just 31 runs in five innings at an abysmal average of 6.20 -- the lowest by a touring captain on Australian soil.
Speculations over his Test future gained momentum after India lost the Boxing Day match in Melbourne to concede a 1-2 lead in the five-Test series, and all of it proved to be true on Friday (January 3).
Meanwhile, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar believes that Rohit has played his final Test match, considering that the 37-year-old is unlikely to be in the scheme of things for India’s next WTC cycle, which begins with the tour of England later this year.
"Well, I think what it probably means is that India don't qualify for the World Test Championship final. To me, it looks that the Melbourne Test would be Rohit Sharma's last game. The new cycle of the World Test Championship will start from the England series, so they will look to have somebody who will be available for 2027 final. Whether India gets to the final or not is another matter, but I think that's what the selection committee will do. Therefore maybe we've probably seen Rohit Sharma for the last time in Test cricket," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
According to Gavaskar, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had a role to play in the decision behind resting Rohit Sharma for the Sydney Test. India are facing a must-win situation in Sydney to retain the BGT and remain in contention for the WTC 2023-25 final.
"At the end of the day he's also part of the selection committee. What happens in Indian cricket is there is a selection committee which chooses the squad to go to travel overseas. Then when you come overseas, the captain, the coach, and I think if there's one selector, they generally form the selection committee. I believe the chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarar here in town, so he would have been part of the call that was taken. Maybe some of the senior players in the team would have been asked," Gavaskar added.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri also endorsed Gavaskar’s views, saying that Rohit would have carried on if there was a home Test season after Australia.
"If there was a home season coming up, he might have thought of carrying on, but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test. He's not getting younger, he's 38 years of age. It's not that India don't have youngsters, there are some very, very good players in the wings, and it's time to build. It's a tough decision, but there's a time for everything," Shastri said on Star Sports.
