Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Indian cricket team in Australia, several media reports have said that captain Rohit Sharma will be ‘rested’ for the final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting on Friday in Sydney. In his absence, top fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team, which aims to level the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. According to The Indian Express, the Indian captain has been ruled out of the fifth Test. He informed head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar about his surprising decision, which both agreed to.
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The report further states that coach Gambhir had a long intensive conversation with Bumrah when fielding practice was going on on the eve of the fifth Test. Meanwhile, the Indian captain batted in the nets for a while and was the last one to arrive for practice. He also missed the regular slip practice sessions. If Rohit sits out, Shubman Gill will return to the playing eleven at number 3. KL Rahul will return to the opening slot along with Yashasvi Jasiwal. Another change on the card will be that Prasidh Krishna will replace the injured Akash Deep, who was ruled out of the series finale on Thursday.
Rohit, who has played 67 Test matches for India, may not play for the national team again. The source said that the fourth Test in Melbourne could be Rohit’s last Test in Test cricket. Unless the BCCI intervenes and requests him to play for the last time, the decision is unlikely to be changed. Rohit Sharma made only a guest appearance in India’s final training session before the Test match in Sydney. On the eve of the big match, Rohit was seen talking to the coaches, including head coach Gautam Gambhir and Bumrah.
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He did not train at the nets with the first batch of his teammates, which included Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal. He was absent from the slip cordon during the caching practice session. Reacting to the development, former India cricketer and 1983 World Cup winner Madan Lal said that dropping Rohit Sharma in the fifth Test is a good decision by the team management.
