Sydney ‘axing’ signals end of road for India captain Rohit

The Indian cricket fans woke up to an explosive start to the fifth and final Test in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Friday when Jasprit Bumrah, instead of Rohit Sharma, came for the toss and announced that “our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game.”

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The bombshell laid to rest the speculation around Rohit’s place in the playing XI. On the face of it, it means that the out-of-form captain has made way for another batter in the playing XI. But how many would believe this? In Indian cricket, it is a rarity for a captain to do so. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said it has probably happened for the first time in Indian Test cricket.

Rohit probably played his last Test at Melbourne and India would be looking for someone who can lead the side in the next World Test Championship cycle, Gavaskar said.

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor opined, “No doubt, he’s been dropped.”

Given Rohit’s barren patch of runs, diminishing reflexes, age creeping up, and the team’s downslide in the longer format, his place in the team is highly uncertain for the next cycle of the WTC.

Rohit or no Rohit, the team’s slide continued as yet another batting collapse rocked the visitors on Day 1 of the fifth Test.

As a captain, Rohit led the side in 24 Tests, winning 12 and losing nine with three draws. Two of his wins came at home, while away from home, he had four losses in eight matches. Under Rohit, India have lost five Tests this season, the most for an Indian captain in a season.

Although the Test team’s fortunes are dwindling, Rohit the captain is not as big an issue as Rohit the opener. He has been dismissed in single digits 10 times in the past 15 innings and averages 10.93 in his last eight matches. Virat Kohli has nine single-digit dismissals this season.

The 37-year-old Rohit’s paltry scores highlighted the flaws in his already minimal footwork. Rohit’s overall numbers in Tests, though, are impressive. In 67 Tests, he scored 4301 runs at an average of 40.57 with 12 centuries. But Rohit’s unending lean patch in Tests had put him in the line of fire. After the loss in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, Rohit had accepted it was “mentally disturbing” that runs were not coming off his bat.

Rohit’s legacy as a Test captain is that of playing fearless cricket upfront by giving quick starts and forcing results in India’s favour in home conditions.

Having taken over Test captaincy from Virat Kohli in 2021, the Mumbaikar discarded the traditional approach to guarded starts in Tests and chose the ‘attack-first’ game. He was prepared to take the occasional failure in his stride and said he would back his team going for the kill every time. His insistence on playing the front-foot pull despite getting out several times was a reflection of his high-risk high-reward game. As the Test captain and opener, his success has rubbed on to the youngsters in the team as well.

I think it probably means that (if) India don’t qualify for the WTC final, the Melbourne Test will be Rohit Sharma’s last game. We have probably seen Rohit Sharma for the last time in Test cricket. Sunil Gavaskar

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... it’s not that India don’t have youngsters. There are very, very good players in the wings and it’s time to build. Tough decisions, but there is a time for everything. Ravi Shastri

Our captain has shown leadership, he has opted to rest. It shows the unity we have in the team. Jasprit Bumrah

Definitely it was an emotional decision because he’s been captain for a long time. We see him as a leader of the team... it was the management’s call. Rishabh Pant