Picture Credit: X
On Friday, January 3, India kickstarted the final Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Test series down under. Trailing the series 1-2 against Australia, Team India decided to rest their regular skipper Rohit Sharma. With this, Rohit Sharma became the first Indian captain to opt out of the playing XI midway through an international series.
This decision from the Indian team management to drop Rohit Sharma, who has failed to get runs on the board, amassing 31 runs across three Tests at an average of 10.93, did not sit well among several, including former cricketers. Among many, former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu voiced his disapproval of Rohit Sharma’s exclusion from the India XI.
Navjot Singh Sidhu lashes out at team management over Rohit Sharma’s omission from Sydney Test
Taking to X, the former Indian cricketer shared a video message, where he voiced on this bold decision of leaving Rohit Sharma out. He opined that a player like Rohit Sharma deserves greater respect, especially in a highly-anticipated speries like Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"A Captain should never be dropped midstream nor given the option to opt out ... sends wrong signals .... Have seen captains like Mark Taylor, Azharuddin etc persisted as captains for a year despite bad form .... @ImRo45 deserved more respect and faith from the management ... Bizarre coz it happened for the first time in Indian cricket history ....Blunder - for a fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef !" Sidhu captioned his post on X.
The 37-year-old batter has faced criticism after losing five of his last six Test matches as captain. The Melbourne Test defeat added to India’s 0-3 series whitewash at home against New Zealand in the longest format of the game. In Rohit Sharma’s absence, Jasprit Bumrah replaced him at the helm, whereas Shubman Gill replaced him in the XI.
