Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was surprised that the reason why Rohit Sharma didn’t play the fifth and final Test of BGT 2024 in Sydney, was given as he ‘opted out’. India was captained by Jasprit Bumrah in his place and won the toss and chose to bat first.
India was bowled out for 185 with Rishabh Pant top-scoring with 40 and Scott Boland taking 4 wickets for the home side. Then Bumrah dismissed Usman Khawaja on the last ball of the day as Australia ended day one on 9/1.
The out-of-form Rohit, who has scored just 31 runs in five innings of this Border Gavaskar Trophy, was replaced by Shubman Gill.
“I was very surprised when I heard the term ‘opting out’ coming into such an important game...The way they've actually worded it, you can only take it on face value.
We've got to believe what we're hearing coming out of the Indian camp, but being such a big game, knowing that they have to win this one to retain the trophy, it was an interesting time for one of their more experienced players to opt-out,” Ponting said on ICC Review.
India, down 1-2 in the five-match series, must win in Sydney to retain the BGT, which it won in the previous edition. On the other hand, a draw will be enough for Australia to reclaim the title after a 10-year absence.
Questions regarding Rohit's involvement in Sydney surfaced after head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to confirm his inclusion in the playing eleven during the pre-match media session on Thursday.
"I think the reaction has been that they all sort of expected that it might happen. The chat's been for the last couple of days that everyone expected that Rohit would not play this game, that Shubman Gill would come back in, and that Bumrah would probably take over the captaincy again, and that's the way it's turned out,” said Ponting.
“You'd think it's probably a long way back for Rohit Sharma now in this format of the game. India don't play a Test match, I believe, until the middle or late June, which is a long way away when you're sort of coming to the back end of your career.
I think he's been a terrific player for India so with those sorts of guys, you wish them all the best and hope to see them back out there again, but as I said, I think it will be a long - and probably difficult road - back for him,” he concluded.
