Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has firmly claimed that India Test skipper Rohit Sharma should not have been left out of the playing XI for the fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Sydney. Rohit was left out of the lineup for the crucial fifth Test due to poor form, having made 31 runs in five innings.

His poor form was going on for a long time, especially in Tests, where he had just 164 runs in 8 Tests, 15 innings with a best score of 52 at an average of 10.93.

But Mohammad Kaif was not pleased with the decision of Indian team management and Gautam Gambhir to leave Rohit Sharma out of the XI. He said that Rohit’s contribution to Indian cricket alone should've seen him keep his spot in the XI, whether win, lose, or draw.

"Rohit Sharma is not an ordinary captain who can be rested or dropped. Whoever has dropped Rohit Sharma, be it Gautam Gambhir or the selectors, you can't drop him from such a crucial Test. Rohit Sharma is a respectful leader, who has created this team, has backed the kids; he won India the T20 World Cup six months back. He brought so much happiness to the country. He is a leader. You cannot drop him," Kaif said in a video on his X.

To add to his point, Kaif drew on the example of Virat Kohli, who has also been struggling for runs but has been persisted with by Team India's management.

"Virat Kohli has not scored runs. Even Usman Khawaja has not scored runs. There are many players who are not amongst the runs in the series as the matches are being played on seaming tracks. The batting has not been easy.

Dropping him (Rohit) is wrong. The captain can never be dropped. If you win, it's with the captain, if you lose, you lose with the captain. He is not someone who can be dropped," Kaif concluded.

India made 185 runs in the first innings of the SCG Test and bowled out Australia for 181 runs. Then Bumrah-led side made 141/6 in their second innings, with a lead of 145 runs.