Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that his decision to stay out of the Sydney Test against Australia earlier this year was not taken unanimously and it had a ‘debate’ with head coach Gautam Gambhir Gambhir and Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar.
The captains playing in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy failed in five consecutive innings. In the fourth Test match of the series played in Melbourne, the team decided to sit out Shubman Gill. Rohit told former Australia captain Michael Clarke during the ‘Beyond 23 Cricket Podcast’, “We somehow wanted to keep Gill in the final eleventh, he is a very good player. He did not play in the last Test match. I am like this … Okay, if I am not able to hit the ball well, then it is now. Things can change after five days, ten days later. ”
He said, “I talked to the coach and the selector and they also agreed, disagreeed. We were also debated on this issue. “The argument of the Indian captain, famous for his leadership approach to prioritize the team, was simple. Rohit said, “You try to give priority to the team, you just see what the team needs and makes decisions accordingly. Sometimes it will work, sometimes not. this is what happens. Whatever decision you try to take, you do not guarantee success. ”
This great batsman also gave logical arguments to reach the decision to exclude himself. He said, “I (in Adelaide) did not play well. I thought I should have started the innings. What I do and I would like to fail there. This is my place, this is my situation. I would like to go there and bat, whether I get success or not, it is a different thing. But I will play in my natural place for the team. ”
Rohit thought that he should continue batting in the middle order in another match in Brisbane.He said, “After disappointment in a match in the middle order, I thought without worrying more that they continue in another match. We can try to change things in Brisbane. He left the match on a draw. When we reached Melbourne, we changed our mind. I went back to start the innings. ”
Rohit admitted that he had to exclude himself as many were not in form against the team at the same time. It also included star batsman Virat Kohli. Leaving his century in the first Test in Perth, Kohli continued to struggle in the entire series. Rohit said, “I had to be honest with myself in the last Test of the series. I was not able to hit the ball well. I did not want to keep myself there in the team because we had dropped other players who were struggling. ”The captain said that when they got the responsibility of leadership of the national team, they had to keep the team’s interests first at all times.
He said, “Ever since I started the captaincy of the national team, I felt that not only me but also the rest of the players should think and keep the team before.” One should do what is necessary for the team and should not worry about your run and centuries, their five wickets. You are playing team sports, if you score 100 runs and cannot get the team success then what is the benefit of this? ”
India will visit England for a five -Test series from June 20 to August 4 and the captain believes that Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah will be fully fit to give a good chance to the hosts. He said, “We need to stay 100 percent fit to some of these players (Bumrah, Shami). I hope they will really perform well from the IPL. I know this is only four overs match, but you play today, travel tomorrow and then play again the next day, this is a challenging part. If our prominent players are fully fit then we will have a good chance in England.
