India captain Rohit Sharma isn’t a part of the Indian playing XI for the New Year’s Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Jasprit Bumrah, who led India to the historic 295-run win in the opening Test match of the series at Perth Stadium, has returned as the side’s skipper. Bumrah said at the toss that Rohit had ‘opted to rest himself’ amidst poor form. The decision came after Rohit Sharma’s disastrous campaign in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where he has scored only 31 runs from three matches.
Pressure was also building on Rohit, who had lost five out of his last six Tests as captain. Last year, under his leadership, India’s 12-year streak of not losing a Test series at home also ended when New Zealand beat them 3-0. In Rohit’s place, India have picked Shubman Gill at SCG as they look to win the Sydney Test and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The senior India batter was not a part of the Indian squad for the final Test.
Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah said at the toss that Rohit Sharma was ‘rested’ from the SCG Test and hailed Rohit for his unselfishness. Bumrah also referred to him as ‘our captain.’
“Obviously, our captain, you know, has shown his leadership as well. He’s opted to rest in this game. So that shows that, you know, there’s a lot of unity in our team, there’s no selfishness that, you know, whatever is in the team’s best interest, we are looking to do that. Two changes, Rohit has rested, Akash Deep is injured and Prasidh Krishna is in,” Jasprit Bumrah said during the toss at the SCG.
