India’s designated skipper Rohit Sharma is not featuring in the team’s ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test match 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.

While reports are claiming that the Melbourne Test may have been Rohit’s last for India, the 37-year-old himself dismissed such suggestions on Saturday (January 4).

Speaking to Star Sports, Rohit clarified that he hasn’t stepped away from the longest format completely while also adding that he decided to step away from the Sydney Test due to extended lean patch.

“Look, like I said, this decision is not a retirement decision. Nor I am going to step away from the game. I am out of this game because I am not getting runs. There’s no guarantee that I won’t be scoring runs five months later. We have seen a lot in cricket, every minute, every second, every moment, life changes,” the Indian captain said.

“I am confident things will change. At the same time, I have to be realistic as well. At the same time, some person is sitting with a mic, laptop or a pen and writing stuff, our lives do not change because of what that person is writing or saying.”

“We have seen the game for so many years. These people can’t decide when we have to go, when we can’t play, and when we can’t captain the side. I am a sensible person, a mature person, father of two children. I have enough sense to understand what I want in life,” he added.

For his candid remarks in the interview, Rohit Sharma was lauded by the members of the Indian cricket fraternity on social media platform X.

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