Indian captain Rohit Sharma explained the decision behind leaving out batter Shubman Gill for the fourth Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Test as well. After the defeat in Melbourne, Rohit, in a press conference, said that Gill was not dropped but left out because of the team combination. He revealed that Gill was informed that he was not dropped and that the team wanted an extra bowling option as well.

“The chat with him was that clearly he was not dropped. We just wanted to have that extra bit of cushion in the bowling and hence we opted for an all-rounder, which shouldn’t weaken our bowling line-up. Compromising a batter for a bowler was not something I wanted to do, we wanted to bat as deep as possible, and along with that have a bowling attack which could take 20 wickets, you know, so we considered everything and we ended up compromising him unfortunately,” Rohit Sharma said via Express Sports.

“Look, with him (Gill), there was never a doubt that he was not batting well, or he was not scoring runs, or anything like that. It was just to get that combination where we can cover both bases, batting and bowling, we opted for that option,” Rohit further added.

The Indian team was slammed by many for the decision to leave Shubman Gill out before the fourth Test. Speculations were rife that Gill was
dropped to accommodate Rohit Sharma himself, who has been struggling with the bat as well.

“We don’t make personal decisions, it is in the best interest of the team. We want to put the team ahead and think about what is the right combination for this particular venue and this opposition. So that’s how I plan picking up the team,” he explained.