Team India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that it was a bold call by Rohit Sharma to rest himself for the fifth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Shastri, who presented the toss for the broadcaster, had a chat with stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah told Shastri that Rohit was an unselfish captain and he had opted to rest himself so that India could field their best playing XI for the SCG Test.
Shastri said it was a bold call for Rohit to own up and say ‘I am prepared to take the bench’. “That’s what Jasprit said at the toss before I could even ask him. He said the captain opted to sit out and said the team would be stronger if Shubman Gill plays. It can happen when you’re out of sorts, you’re mentally not there, you don’t have the runs under your belt. It still is a brave call for a captain to own up and say, you know, I’m prepared to take the bench in this game,” Ravi Shastri said.
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“If there was a home season coming up, he might have thought of carrying on, but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test. He’s not getting younger, he’s 38 years of age. It’s not that India don’t have youngsters, there are some very, very good players in the wings, and it’s time to build. It’s a tough decision, but there’s a time for everything,” Ravi Shastri again said.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar also applauded Rohit Sharma’s decision on the broadcast and on X as well.
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“So typical of Rohit Sharma. Doing the right thing, doing what’s right for the team. But could not understand the ‘cloak & dagger’ around the issue. Wasn’t even talked about at the toss,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.
“Rohit is well rested. The issue I have with Indian cricket culture, the secretive operation. Rohit is not an all-time great to keep his exclusion mysterious. I can understand if it’s Virat Kohli. But Rohit has played 60-odd Tests with one overseas century and an average of just 40. I don’t get why it should be so mysterious,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on Star Sports ahead of the Sydney Test.
