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India captain Rohit Sharma has talked about his decision of pulling out of the Sydney Test against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Speaking to former Australia captain Michael Clarke on Beyond23 Cricket podcast, Rohit also disclosed he had an argument with Team India coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarakar, who were unsure about the veteran’s decision to opt out from the game and replacing him with Shubman Gill. During the tour, Rohit played three matches and scored only 31 runs in five innings at an egregious average of 6.20. In the final Test, Rohit didn’t show up and in his place, Jasprit Bumrah handled the reins of the side.
In the Aussie great’s podcast, Rohit said he took the decision to drop himself from playing XI for the welfare of the side. Rohit also revealed that he wanted Gill to play the decider game in his place as the latter couldn’t appear in the fourth Test, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). "In the last Test match in Sydney, I had to be honest with myself. I was not hitting the ball well. And I didn't want to put myself there only because we had a lot of the other guys who were struggling as well. When you add yourself in there, it just becomes a little more... And we wanted Gill to play. He is such a good player. He missed out in the previous Test," said Rohit.
He also added, "I was like, 'Okay, if I'm not hitting the ball well, it's right now.' Things can change ten days later, five days later. I spoke to the coach and the selector, who was there on the tour. They kind of agreed - not agreed. There was an argument around it. You try and put the team first and just look at what the team wants and make the decision accordingly. Sometimes it may work, sometimes it may not.”
Rohit will look to bounce back with his captaincy in upcoming England Tests
Despite the fiasco in Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI) has shown faith in Rohit’s leadership as the 37-year-old will be seen captaining India in the upcoming five-match Test series in England, set to be played from June 20 to August 4. Currently, Rohit is rendering his services to Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
India will be chasing Test series success on England’s soil after 18 years. Under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy, India won their last Test competition against the English team by a 1-0 margin in 2007. Back in 2022, when India levelled the five-match series with 2-2 figures, Rohit was the highest run-getter for the team. He notched up 368 runs in eight innings of four matches at an average of 52.57.
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